The New Fantastic Four Trailer is a Big Tease

This week Twentieth Century Fox released the trailer for their new Fantastic Four reboot. The movie has already met with a lot of controversy from fans. Every element of this movie has been scrutinized; the direction the studio is taking the characters, the casting, and the plot line. Now with a trailer to analyze, fans can get a real sense of how the movie will take shape. Let’s talk about what we can expect from Fantastic Four.

First of all, the trailer heavily features Dr. Franklin Storm, Johnny and Sue’s father. Played by Reg E. Cathey, it seems like Dr. Storm will act as the catalyst for many of the Fantastic Four’s struggles. It’s clear that this will be a retelling of their origins but with very obvious changes. Fox has taken many liberties with their interpretation of Marvel’s seminal family; for example, Reed Richards is often thought of as a man in his prime, but in this version he will played by Miles Teller (Whiplash) who suffers from major baby face and looks about 15 years-old. While the plot did allegedly leak a little while ago, the trailer doesn’t give a lot of information to go on, except to tell us that the four will come together, but it does look impressive. The small teases provided by the trailer are enough to make any Marvel fan squee; from our first glimpse of the Thing, to Johnny Storm’s powers. Perhaps the most thrilling moment in the entire trailer is the quick peek we get at Doctor Doom’s iconic mask; that is the moment when it truly feels like this is a Fantastic Four movie.

I am admittedly very cynical about this reboot. By making the core characters so young, they will be faced with different issues than if they were adults. A huge part of the Fantastic Four cannon is the relationship between Reed Richards and Sue Storm; their rocky relationship is hampered by their powers and they struggle to overcome and find a way to balance saving the world with raising a family. With such a young cast, this movie is likely to have more of a Spider-Man feel as the four inevitably grapple with their new powers, a twist that makes me believe that the studio is playing it safe. Pretty young heroes learning to fight evil are sexy and bound to sell tickets; it’s so much easier to make a blockbuster from that premise than the story of a thirty-something family of heroes working to save the world from evil and get the kids to school on time. That said, the studio has made sure that this movie is every bit as epic in scale as any of the Marvel Studios productions. They are gambling a lot on a franchise that filed so badly the first time around. Yes, I am skeptic, but you have to admit that this movie looks really cool and despite my uncontrollable cynicism, I can’t help but be excited to see Fantastic Four.