If any of these rumors are true, then I expect Josh Trank to be the next M. Night Shyamalan in terms of box office poison. He'll go down in history as the man who sent the Fantastic Four back to Marvel, nearly ruined the careers of Miles Teller and Simon Kinberg and got replaced before his Star Wars movie could even film.
But more importantly, he'll be the reason why there was never a good FF movie until the 2020s.
Here's how I'd redo the FF for 2019 or 2020
I'd also have made the FF cast
Matthew McConaughey as Reed Richards
Emily Bunt as Sue Richards
Cam Gigandet as Johnny Storm
Seth Rogan as Ben Grimm
Keith Szarabajka as Annihilus (voice)
Sergej Trifunovic as Doctor Doom (post-credits)
The tone would be similar to Interstellar, Gravity or 2001: A Space Odyssey. More grounded than the Tim Story films but not as mundane as Josh Trank's take. The emotions I would seek to evoke from the audience would be awe and wonder. I'd seek a real astrophysicist to assist as a science consultant and get backing from NASA to provide equipment to help lower the budget.
The themes I'd play with would be optimism, faith in the power of reason to help humanity through science and the thrill of discovery. Not the type of Flash Gordon pulp sci-fi that Tim Story liked nor Josh Trank's, "kid's with disabilities" take. I'm talking hard sci-fi that grounds completely fantastic elements in real science to make the very outlandish things that appear on screen seem plausible, no matter how crazy they are.
The entire plot revolves around multiverse theory and wormholes which are based in actual science as a means of circumventing the light barrier. FTL travel is already confirmed to exist in the MCU. The main problem that Earth has is a lack of materials to build that technology. The plan is to open up a portal to another universe where the speed of light is no longer a hard limit, then travel to other solar systems from there.
Reed Richards laid the groundwork for extra-dimensional travel but was taken off the project because the fourth astronaut on his crew caught the flu when the shuttle was about to take off. Also, being taken off the mission means that Reed is no longer going to get a Nobel Prize despite all his hard work. So he adds Johnny to the crew, despite him not being trained as an astronaut, hijacks the shuttle and heads into the N-Zone. Naturally, Johnny has no idea what he's doing and causes an accident in the N-Zone.
Annihilus attaches himself to the shuttle and begins stalking the FF to sabotage their equipment so they may no longer, "invade" his territory. His goal to to kill anyone involved with the project before returning home so that he won't have to worry about any rivals. Annihilus' fatalism and paranoia is meant to contrast with Reed's optimism and that contrast is what drives the plot.
When it comes to characterization, Reed Richards is a fast talking nerd. He rambles, he assumes people are paying attention, he lacks social graces, etc. He's also a bit arrogant but his main goal in life is to improve the world through science. He's the epitome of altruism and selflessness even though he comes across as aloof and uncaring towards the people closest to him.
Sue is Reed's wife who is ultimately the de facto leader of the group. Reed comes up with the plans but Sue is the one who finds ways to execute them. Reed finds Johnny's pranks funny and even eggs him on so it falls on Sue to get him to stop. When Reed gets a bit to intense and fixated on overly convoluted plans, Sue is the one who gets him back on track. And while Ben doesn't have any relation to her, he ultimately listens to her. Reed may be the main character but Sue is the one who's in charge.
Johnny is an immature man-child who just so happens to be a college dropout who associates himself with astronauts. He lives with his sister and her husband and openly admits to mooching off them so he can raid their fridge and play video games all day. After the accident in space, his goal in life is to annoy Ben as much as possible. He ultimately gets tasked with public relations where he markets the FF to the general public by appearing on talk shows and approving merchandise so the other three don't have to worry about him touching any sensitive lab equipment. His role in the narrative is getting Reed to explain complex concepts to him (and thus the audience) so that people who dont' have a background in physics can follow the plot.
Ben is somebody who was already grumpy but now has to deal with being turned into a rock monster AND a celebrity. Not only does he have to take the stairs since elevators are over capacity with him riding in them but he also has to sleep in a sleeping bag since he broke his bead the first time he tried sleeping in it. That and he now has such a unique appearance that he can't leave the Baxter Building without paparazzi ambushing him and asking for his autograph. He wants to be able to be left alone but can't because everyone asks him what it was like to be the first man to enter the Negative Zone.
Two scenes occur after the credits. The first shows that the plan to not only drop Annihilus back in the Negative Zone but send him flying at faster than light speeds has backfired as he's now reentered our universe, albeit at Hala. The Kree see a shooting star heading right for their world that stops in midair followed by several spaceships of unknown origin appearing out of nowhere. Then comes the landing when strange insect aliens land on the surface and begin their invasion. To be continued in Guardians of the Galaxy: Annihilation!
The second has the whole team on a late night talk show which zooms out to reveal a TV screen being watched by a figure breathing heavily. The camera pans around to reveal Doctor Doom.
t:
