20th Century Fox rumoured to have kid-friendly Fantastic Four reboot in the works

It had to happen. Word has gotten out that 20th Century Fox are at work on another ‘Fantastic Four’ reboot – and it may be rather different from what went before.

According to a report at Bleeding Cool, Seth Grahame-Smith (‘The Lego Batman Movie’ writer once attached to direct DC’s ‘The Flash’) has written the screenplay for what will be Fox’s third take on the iconic Marvel Comics super-team – but it does not centre on the traditional line-up.

Core ‘Fantastic Four’ members Reed Richards/Mr Fantastic and Susan Storm/The Invisible Woman will reportedly be replaced by their children, Franklin and Valeria Richards. The other two core members, Johnny Storm/The Human Torch and Ben Grimm/The Thing will apparently remain in the quartet.

The project is described as ‘kid-centric with a vibe far more reminiscent of ‘The Incredibles,’‘ as opposed to the darker, teenage angst tone of 2015’s ‘Fantastic Four’ from director Josh Trank.

20th Century Fox have neither confirmed nor denied the report, but it seems unthinkable that the studio won’t have some sort of ‘Fantastic Four’ movie in the works, lest they run the risk of allowing their hold on the rights to expire and revert to Marvel Studios.

Naturally, many fans may hold out hope that Fox and Marvel may come to an agreement to share the rights to the characters as Sony and Marvel did with ‘Spider-Man.’ Unfortunately, relations between Fox (rights holders to ‘X-Men’ and ‘Fantastic Four’) and the Disney-owned comic label-turned-studio are said to be very icy indeed, and it seems unlikely either side would be willing to budge for the other.

Assuming the report is on the level, this will be Fox’s fourth ‘Fantastic Four’ movie. They started out with 2005’s ‘Fantastic Four,’ which cast Ioan Grufford, Jessica Alba, Michael Chiklis and future Captain America actor Chris Evans, and was directed by Tim Story.

Neither the 2005 original nor its 2007 sequel ‘Fantastic Four: Rise of the Silver Surfer’ (also directed by Story) were particularly well-reviewed, but they proved a modest commercial success, earning a cumulative $620 million worldwide.

However, director Josh Trank’s 2015 ‘Fantastic Four’ reboot was dogged with controversy from the start thanks to the darker tone, the casting of black actor Michael B Jordan as the traditionally white Johnny Storm, and the overall youth of the core cast (Jordan joined by Miles Teller, Kate Mara and Jamie Bell).

It was a critical and commercial disaster, taking less than $168 million worldwide.

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