It’s always been a sore point for Marvel fans that the Fantastic Four have never been done justice on the big screen. Despite being the comic book universe’s First Family, none of Fox’s three movies have measured up to what the Four have to offer. But The King’s Man director and longtime fan Matthew Vaughn believes that, if they were actually handled correctly, Mr. Fantastic and co. could become as big as Spider-Man.
While speaking to ComicBook.com, Vaughn reiterated his love for Reed Richards, Sue Storm and the rest. Specifically, he discussed how he thinks there’s potential for the Fantastic Four brand to become one of Marvel’s biggest, so long as they get the movie treatment they deserve.
“I actually think Fantastic Four as an IP is, in theory, as big as Spider-Man, you know? I mean, the values of the Fantasic Four and Spider-Man, those are the reasons I think if you’re a kid, you can imagine being a part of the Fantastic Four Family, and you can imagine being Peter Parker. So yeah, I think Fan-Four would be the one that would excite me the most.”
Vaughn’s got a point here. The MCU has proved many times that Marvel Studios can take even the most obscure character or team and turn them into globally-adored heroes. As such, they can surely do the same with an IP that’s as familiar to audiences as the Four. As for who can be trusted to reboot them right this time, Vaughn said elsewhere in this same interview that he wouldn’t mind making an FF movie for the MCU himself.
This would be Vaughn’s first collaboration with Marvel Studios, though he’s previously helmed X-Men: First Class for Fox. He’d be a big name to join the MCU family, but the Fantastic Four gig will no doubt be a hotly-contested competition, as Ant-Man and the Wasp’s Peyton Reed has also gone on record as a major fan of the characters.
In any case, a Fantastic Four reboot is definitely on the way, as confirmed by Kevin Feige this summer, but we’ll have to see if it achieves Vaughn’s vision of making the heroes as big as Spidey.