LR: You are involved with FANTASTIC FOUR; will we see any of it at this year’s Comic-Con?
Simon Kinberg: No, I can definitively officially tell you that there will not be anything from FANTASTIC FOUR at this year’s Comic Con. We are still very much in the middle of shooting and we don’t want to show anything until it’s ready and it’s not ready yet. We want the first stuff that we show from the film to really blow people away, and it will but we have got to wait until it’s ready.
LR: You don’t want to do a disservice to the film…
Simon Kinberg: Yes, we are hopefully going to be refining the way the people see the FANTASTIC FOUR movies. There are so many things we are doing different from the previous film and so many things different from other comic books films. When we really step forward we want it to be with our best foot forward. Instead of rushing something together for the Con we’d rather really wait until we have that perfect first image, perfect first sequence and first scene to show people. And I know that there’s a lot of people that think that’s the big surprise from Fox this year at the Con and knowing that I’m talking to a reporter and I’m going on record that I’m saying unfortunately that will not be a surprise for the fans of Comic-Con this year. Obviously the Comic-Con world is incredible important to FANTASTIC FOUR and because of that we want to give them the best version of what we are making.
LR: Ultimate FANTASTIC FOUR was bonkers, eventually making Reed Richards one of the biggest villains of the line and the Classic FANTASTIC FOUR comics play broad and goofy to a modern audience. Kate Mara recently said that the new FANTASTIC FOUR is different from the comics and it's not surprising. What's the crux of the FANTASTIC FOUR to you?
Simon Kinberg: I actually think that this FANTASTIC FOUR movie is sort of a celebration of all the FANTASTIC FOUR comics that have preceded it. We have elements from the original FANTASTIC FOUR that there’s a sort of optimism and inspirational quality to the film. In some ways a comedy that was really distinct in the original FANTASTIC FOUR. Also, the notion of this dysfunctional surrogate family that comes together and has to work together is very present in the movie that owes a great debt to the originals. And this idea that they are scientist and that it’s almost like this science adventure, more than being superheroes, they are almost like scientific adventurers, that’s a big part of the movie too. We also owe a lot to the Ultimate’s and the current crop of FANTASTIC FOUR comics and you’ll see that. I don’t want to give anything away but you will see it in the details and a lot of the story telling. It’s really sort of inspired by all the different history of the FANTASTIC FOUR comics. I think what Kate meant, and I read that comment, I think what she meant which was right is that it’s not based on any one run. DAYS OF FUTURE PAST was obviously based on DAYS OF FUTURE PAST comic run and that was something that I could easily give the actors to read and they’d know the whole story. In this case because we are really snatching details, story lines, moments, action sequences from across the whole gambit of the decades of FANTASTIC FOUR, there isn’t one comic that defines the movie.
