Trailer Showdown: ‘The Fantastic Four: First Steps’ vs. ‘Jurassic World: Rebirth’

 

We all assumed we would be getting trailers for Marvel Studios’ The Fantastic Four: First Steps and Universal Pictures’ during Super Bowl LIX this Sunday, but both franchises kicked things off a bit early, giving fans of summer blockbusters a lot to discuss and dissect this week. But which trailer packs the most punch? Has the bigger bite? Scarletts the most Johanssons? OK, that last one is pretty obvious.

Let’s see how they match up.

The Fantastic Four: First Steps

Let’s be honest: There has never been a good Fantastic Four movie. There are some fun moments in the 2005 Tim Story film, but from the 1994 Roger Corman schlock flick to the 2015 reboot misfire, the silver screen has been unkind to Marvel’s First Family. But the debut Marvel Studios film for Mr. Fantastic, The Invisible Woman, The Human Torch and The Thing shows promise, placing the characters against a reimagined 1960s backdrop that’s separate from the established Marvel Cinematic Universe. Directed by Matt Shakman and starring Pedro Pascal, Vanessa Kirby, Joseph Quinn and Ebon Moss-Bachrach, The Fantastic Four: First Steps also features John Malkovich and Natasha Lyonne in its star-studded cast, with Ralph Ineson voicing The Devourer of Worlds himself, Galactus. The retro-futuristic aesthetic in this is a lot of fun, and the visual effects bringing The Thing to orange, rocky life are exceptional. If the MCU is “at a bit of a low point” – as stated by Deadpool in a certain billion-dollar team-up flick earlier this year – this might be the splash of freshness and color the nearly 20-year-old movie universe needs.

Jurassic World: Rebirth

Jurassic World Dominion wasn’t great. In fact, it wasn’t even good. Overstuffed with characters and lacking any of the awe factor that made Jurassic Park a classic, Dominion felt like an extinction point for the prehistoric franchise. I remember hearing that the next film in the series would be a soft reboot, and it seems like that comes by way of a new human cast, ramped-up horror elements and the emergence of a new mutant dinosaur threat. It’s also directed by Gareth Edwards (Rogue One: A Star Wars Story) and written by Jurassic Park co-writer David Koepp so, yeah, I’m in. 

The Rebirth trailer features Scarlett Johansson’s Zora Bennett joining Jonathan Bailey’s Dr. Henry Loomis and Mahershala Ali’s Duncan Kincaid on a dangerous expedition to extract dino DNA from several dinosaurs at Jurassic Park’s original research laboratory so it can be used to create a miracle drug. Things obviously go wrong, and the group is attacked by Velociraptors, Spinosauri, at least one Tyrannosaurus Rex and a hideous mutant dinosaur that will likely be a pretty cool toy.

The plot doesn’t veer too far away from the working formula for all things Jurassic – put humans and dinosaurs together and see what happen – but Rebirth looks like a massive stomp in the right direction after the underwhelming Dominion. Let’s hope there are no giant locusts this time.

The Verdict?

It’s close, but when it comes to The Thing taking vs. The Rex, “It’s Clobberin’ Time!” Fantastic Four: The First Steps wins in a battle of fresh vs. familiar. Jurassic World: Rebirth’s trailer seems to tread familiar ground to bring the series back to basics, while First Steps aptly showcases what sets these characters apart from the 30+ prior Marvel Studios films.  

Marvel Studios Reveals ‘Fantastic Four’ Cast, Release Date

 

Marvel loves us. Clearly.

Just days after the Deadpool & Wolverine trailer sent fans into a foaming frenzy, Marvel Studios celebrated Valentine’s Day with a big, sloppy kiss to fans in the form of a Fantastic Four movie cast reveal.

Following months of speculation, Marvel finally confirmed who will be playing Marvel’s First Family in the anticipated film.

·        Pedro Pascal (The Mandalorian, The Last of Us) – Reed Richards/Mr. Fantastic

·        Vanessa Kirby (Mission: Impossible – Dead Reckoning, Napoleon) – Sue Storm/The Invisible Woman

·        Ebon Moss-Bachrach (The Bear, Andor) – Ben Grimm/The Thing

·        Joseph Quinn (Stranger Things) – Johnny Storm/The Human Torch

I have no notes. There’s a lot riding on this film – aside from the X-Men, this is the team that we’ve all been waiting for to make its debut in the Marvel Cinematic Universe. That being said, we haven’t really gotten a great or arguably a good Fantastic Four film yet, so the pressure is on for this one to deliver. But based on the cast, we’re off to a tremendous, nay, a FANTASTIC start.

Marvel Studios also revealed the Fantastic Four release date: July 25, 2025.

‘Fantastic Four’ Cast Hasn’t Seen the Movie

This can’t be a good sign for Marvel’s First Family.

BBC Newsbeat reports that the leads in Fox’s Fantastic Four reboot hasn’t even seen the finished movie yet, even though it’s set for release on Friday.

The film hasn’t been screened for critics either. When Newsbeat asked Miles Teller, the new Reed Richards, whether the film will prove the doubters wrong, he said, “Rarely are films of this size critically well received. This is not a movie we're going to go on Rotten Tomatoes and it's going to be at 80 or 90 percent.”

Wortman’s Note: Marvel Studios’ Captain America: The Winter Soldier received a Rotten Tomatoes score of 89 percent last year, while Guardians of the Galaxy is sitting pretty at 91 percent. The Avengers got a score of 92 percent in 2012, and Iron Man got a 94 percent wayyyy back in 2008. Rare indeed. 

A Perfect Storm of Marvel Promo Images

Wow, and here I thought it was a slow week. Just today we got first looks at how four Marvel characters will look in live-action in the very near future.

First up, Marvel Entertainment has posted Daredevil's red suit in his Netflix-exclusive series, which drops tomorrow:



But that's not all! We've only gotten glimpses of Paul Bettany's Vision in Avengers: Age of Ultron, but today we got a full-on poster of the avenging android, sparking much speculation about his role in the film as its May 1 release date approaches:

Meanwhile, the folks at Fox are keen on reminding us that they, too, have Marvel franchises, releasing this image of The Thing from this summer's Fantastic Four reboot:

Finally, Fox has also released, via Empire.com, this concept art showing Ben Hardy as Archangel in next summer's X-Men: Apocalypse:

Not a bad day to geek out, eh?

The New 'Fantastic Four' Trailer Tries Really Hard

Say what you will about the Tim Story Fantastic Four movies, but they at least captured some of the fun of Marvel's first family in their own meandering way. Based on the first teaser trailer for 20th Century Fox's 2015 reboot of the property, however, it's all gloom and doom (ha!) for these characters as filmmakers desperately try to make Mr. Fantastic, The Invisible Woman, The Human Torch and the ever-lovin' blue-eyed Thing truly work on the big screen for the first time ever. Will they succeed?

At first glance, the cast seems a tad young, particularly with 27-year-old Miles Teller (Divergent) playing Reed Richards. I've always considered Reed much older and wiser, but as the trailer reminds us, this is the same studio that brought us X-Men: Days of Future Past. Sticking to the comics isn't really their "thing."

Fantastic Four hits theaters Aug. 7.

‘Fantastic Four’ Reboot Release Date Set for 2015

Determined to cling to the rights of one of Marvel’s most beloved properties, Fox has announced that The Fantastic Four  —  a reboot of Tim Story’s misguided film series starring Mr. Fantastic, The Invisible Woman, The Human Torch and The Thing  — will hit theaters on March 6, 2015, Collider.com reports.

Details on the upcoming film are nearly nonexistent, but we know that it will be helmed by Josh Trank (Chronicle) and written by relative unknown Jeremy Slater. Other Marvel films on Fox’s slate include The Wolverine (July 26, 2013) and X-Men: Days of Future Past (May 23, 2014).

I don’t want to wish ill on The Fantastic Four, but this is one franchise that would flourish with the fine folks over at Marvel Studios, and aside from X-Men: First Class, Fox hasn’t produced any worthwhile Marvel films since X2: X-Men United nearly a decade ago. Will Trank’s reboot be a film worthy of Marvel’s First Family? Or will we have another X-Men Origins: Wolverine on our hands? Stay tuned.

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What the F is the FF?

Well, that didn’t take long.

Just weeks after fans mourned the loss of the Human Torch, Marvel has announced that Spider-Man will join the surviving members of the Fantastic Four—along with some “top secret” heroes—to form the Future Foundation. What’s the Future Foundation, you might ask? Well, according to Marvel.com, their ongoing mission is as follows: “Save the Marvel Universe from its greatest threats and prevent future dangers from arising. “

Wow, Spider-Man is in another book? Between his solo gig, his Avengers membership and now this, I’m guessing ‘ol Peter Parker is feeling a bit strung out. Get it? Because…webs.

FF #1 arrives on March 23. For more info, head over to Marvel.com.

The Thing Is …

Although hardly the biggest problem with Fox’s Fantastic Four films, most fans pretty much hated Michael Chiklis’ awkward, foamy Thing costume, which more closely resembled delicious sponge cake than not-so-delicious orange rock. Fortunately, Screen Rant reports, the studio is going the CGI route for the character in the franchise’s much-needed reboot, officially titled Fantastic Four Reborn.

Well, let’s at least hope the special effects work in the film is more creative than its title. Fantastic Four Reborn? They might as well call it Fantastic Four Rebooted. Maybe next time.

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