Fantastic 4 to be Rebooted Strictly for the Sake of Studio Politics

Devin Faraci is right when he says that 20th Century Fox only wants to reboot the Fantastic 4 series strictly because they don’t want the property to return to the hands of Marvel, now in bed with the Walt Disney Company. “It’s a pride thing – if Marvel turns Fantastic 4 into an Iron Man-level franchise, it makes Fox look bad,” says Faraci, echoing my immediate thoughts upon considering a reboot of a series that just had an entry 2 years ago.

Akiva Goldsman, the screenwriter behind Batman Forever, Batman and Robin, I Am Legend and Angels and Demons, has been hired to produce a reboot of the film franchise for Fox.

Variety is reporting that Michael Green (a producer and writer for Heroes and Smallville) has been hired to write the film.

Here’s the thing: while I didn’t enjoy either of the Fantastic 4 films, there’s still plenty of potential for that cast and crew to deliver on a third outing — a complete reboot reeks of desperation on behalf of 20th Century Fox.

As far as I’m concerned, they’ve already lost the money they hope to gain from me on this one by making Wolverine. I still have nightmares about that one.