Last summer, Fantastic Four failed to deliver a compelling reboot to Marvel’s first family. But, rather than focusing on how the movie failed to meet expectations, much of the discussion surrounding the film seemed to be why it failed to meet expectations for fans and critics. Fantastic Four’s director Josh Trank has been the most polarizing figure in this debate, especially in terms of the mystery surrounding just how much 20th Century Fox altered Trank’s vision .
Several stars of the film have previously opened up about Fantastic Four’s problems, but Toby Kebbell – who played Doctor Doom – perhaps received the most backlash from the movie based on the final cut and the portrayal of the iconic villain in the film.
In an interview with The Daily Beast, Kebbell, rather than pile on Trank’s Fantastic Four, went the other way and boasted about the original plan for the film. When asked about the movie, Kebbell was reluctant to call the reboot a blockbuster due to its disastrous box-office numbers. The actor went on to specifically point out that he believed Trank’s cut of the film was much better than the final result:
“I tell you, the honest truth is [Trank] did cut a great film that you’ll never see. That is a shame. A much darker version, and you’ll never see it.”
This isn’t the first time Kebbell has answered questions about Fantastic Four, as he danced around the film’s collaboration issues in an interview earlier this year. Although Fantastic Four didn’t go as Kebbell had hoped, his comments surrounding the film and playing the Doom character seem to indicate that he won’t run from the genre going forward.
Still, Kebbell seems to have confirmed what many fans feared to be true, that the studio’s influence may have been part of the reason Fantastic Four became one of the most disappointed comic book movies in terms of fan response and the worst reviewed Marvel Comics film. But, considering the various reports concerning the tough production of Fantastic Four, it’s likely that no one factor directly led to the failure of the film.
All that said, Kebbell appears to be moving on from Fantastic Four and what could have been if Trank’s original cut of the film had made it to theaters.
X-Men: Apocalypse is now playing in theaters. Wolverine 3 opens in U.S. theaters on March 3rd, 2017, followed by unannounced X-Men films on October 6th, 2017 (possibly Gambit), March 2nd, 2018 (possibly Deadpool 2), and June 29th, 2018 (possibly New Mutants). X-Force is also in development.
Source: The Daily Beast
