After years of speculation and nervous fanboy ridicule the world finally gets its first look at the new Fantastic Four. It looks like it’s time to put down the pitchforks and consider not storming Fox’s castle walls like a rampaging orc from Lord of the Rings. From the beginning, the creative team has been one of the production’s strongest points in writer Simon Kinberg (X-Men: Days of Future Past) and director Josh Trank (Chronicle). It looks like we have a fantastical science-fiction story coming our way, that most were not expecting.

Many have been concerned that there were too many changes to the source material, however from the trailer it seems to be extremely faithful to the comics. Kinberg and Trank have gone with the Ultimate Fantastic Four origin, over the classic Stan Lee and Jack Kirby beginnings. In the original 1960’s origin, they are a group of astronauts who get hit with cosmic rays, which changes them in curious ways. However, in the more modern Ultimate retelling they are young research students who find a way to travel to another dimension, which is where the transformation occurs. 

Trank has recently spoken about the film and opened up about his influences on the movie. In an interview with Collider he explains his approach:

“…maybe the biggest influence for me in terms of an overall view and communicating tool to the various department was Scanners or The Fly.  In terms of the feeling of what these powers are.  Because the drama speaks for itself in terms of the script or the story but the look of the movie and the feel of the movie has to be more evocative.”

The best modern superhero films are become transcendent such as, Guardians of the Galaxy or The Dark Knight, because they are able to blend genres. In those cases the space opera and crime drama were spliced with comic book elements to make something wholly new. In the case of the Fantastic Four it appears that Trank has used infused a heavy amount of science-fiction horror and it looks like we are in for something that we have never seen before. Sure there are updates and liberties taken, but that is exactly what has made comic book stories endure. New writers and artists take a look at what has come before and then they add to the mythology by putting their own spin on it. Enjoy the new Fantastic Four.

Official Synopsis:

“The Fantastic Four,” a contemporary re-imagining of Marvel’s original and longest-running superhero team, centers on four young outsiders who teleport to an alternate and dangerous universe, which alters their physical form in shocking ways. Their lives irrevocably upended, the team must learn to harness their daunting new abilities and work together to save Earth from a former friend turned enemy.

Fantastic Four opens August 7, 2015.

Are you ready to jump off of the hate bandwagon? What do you think of the tone? Let us know on the comment boards, , , and !

Source: Fox, Collider