SAN DIEGO–Among many announcements made at this year’s San Diego Comic Con about the next phase of the Marvel Cinematic Universe was a long-awaited confirmation that a new Fantastic Four movie was in development at Marvel. Further details have come to light soon after, with studio executives explaining that Marvel will partner with its parent company Disney in making a live-action remake of 2004’s The Incredibles to be incorporated into the MCU.
“The decision to go in this particular direction came after a lot of thought,” explained Marvel Studious President Kevin Feige. “A lot of fans have been wanting a good, Marvel-made Fantastic Four movie for a long time. And, sure, so have we. But then we realized, how many attempts have there been already? Three movies? Four, if you count the one back in the ’90s–and they were all far from fantastic! Sooner or later, we’ve all got to realize that it’s just never going to happen.”
“Instead,” Feige went on to comment, “we just realized that we’ve already got these established characters from the Disney/Pixar universe. They’ve had two great movies, and they’re basically the same concept. They’re a family of four superheroes, their bad guy is an evil genius, they have most of the same powers, and everything! I mean, if Marvel wasn’t under Disney already, we’d probably be suing them for copyright infringement! And since Disney’s live-action remakes have been universally well-received and completely non-controversial so far, we figured we couldn’t go wrong!”
Casting for the developing film, tentatively titled The Incredible Four, is still unclear at this time. Fan speculation has been widely divided into two camps. Originally, many fans hoped for real-life husband and wife John Krasinski and Emily Blunt to be cast in the roles of married superheroes Mr. Fantastic and Invisible Woman. Had this been the case, it seemed likely that Krasinski’s The Office co-stars Steve Carell and Rainn Wilson would have joined in the roles of the Human Torch and the Thing, respectively. However, as it has now been revealed that this film will adapt The Incredibles rather than the Fantastic Four of the classic comics, this possibility now seems unlikely.
Rather, Feige expressed interest in bridging with the previous Fantastic Four movies to create a sense of homage and continuity, by simply using their cast to play the roles of the Incredibles. “The casting was not the problem with those movies,” Feige further elaborated. “And they’ve already got experience playing characters with those same powers! In fact, that guy who played the Human Torch was great! I feel like I’ve seen him in something else before, too, but I just can’t put my finger on it.” Based on these comments, and using the cast of Josh Trank’s Fantastic 4 (2015), it seems likely that Michael B. Jordan will appear as Dash, Kate Mara will play Violet, Jamie Bell will star as Mr. Incredible, and Miles Teller will play Elastigirl.
Rumors have begun to surface about Samuel L. Jackson appearing as the Incredibles’ ally Frozone, but it is unclear whether this will happen, due to his established role in the Marvel Cinematic Universe as Nick Fury. Some fans have begun to speculate that the two characters may be one and the same, with Frozone simply acting as a cover for the super-spy of S.H.I.E.L.D. Others have noted that Jackson shouldn’t need to play an additional role in the MCU, as having a prominent part in such a high-grossing franchise is already the greatest good he’s ever gonna get.
In the style of all great live-action remakes, a large outcry and controversy are expected from fans of the classic original movie over the fact that the superheroes are being portrayed by actors not from the actual superhuman demographic.
Brad Bird will return to direct and to play the live-action role of Edna Mode. Marvel’s The Incredible Four is being slated for a late 2020 release.
Marvelous Movies 