Peyton Reed talks about why he left his planned Fantastic Four movie
The Ant-Man director reveals how his take of the World' Greatest Comics' Magazine would have been like Joss Whedon's ''The Avengers'', why he left the project, and his thoughts on Josh Trank's upcoming adaptation.
Peyton Reed is known among moviegoers for his work on comedies such as ''Bring It On'', ''The Break-Up'', ''Down With Love'' and ''Yes Man''. He has also established a solid body of television work, including the ''Back To The Future'' animated series and behind-the-scenes documentary of the films. Soon, however, he will be known to larger audiences as Marvel Studios' latest movie ''Ant-Man'' arrives in theaters worldwide.
In May 2014, Marvel selected Reed as the ideal replacement in the wake of director Edgar Wright's departure. Previously, he had been considered to helm ''Guardians of the Galaxy'' before James Gunn was chosen. However, he is also known for his brief involvement with developing the first ''Fantastic Four'' movie.
In an interview with Yahoo.com, Reed explains he was signed to direct ''Fantastic Four'' at 20th Century Fox after Chris Columbus, Raja Gosnell and Peter Segal were previously attached to the project. His take on the comic book was to be a character-driven story with an equal balance of action, drama and humor. "I was a huge Marvel fan when I was a kid and knew ''Fantastic Four'' inside out and felt they were always the clown jewel of Marvel," he says. "So I went in and got [hired for] the movie, and I developed it for the better part of a year with three different sets of writers."
Following a long development process, Reed left the director's chair after realizing the executives at Fox wanted a light-hearted movie as opposed to his take on the characters. While he remains diplomatic about the affair, Reed states conflicting visions of how the Fantastic Four played a major role in his decision to quit. "Fox had a very different movie in mind and they were also chasing a release date... so we ended up parting company," he says. "I felt like I couldn't the movie I wanted to make in that environment."
Reed goes into detail, explaining how the executives at Fox sought to gear their comic book properties to a family-friendly audience, similar to Sam Raimi's ''Spider-Man''. Although the studio had found success with ''X-Men'', they aimed to cater to a younger fanbase. "The environment at Fox in 2003 was very different to the environment at Marvel in 2015," he says. "Fox at that time had a very specific idea; they wanted to pitch it much younger than I wanted to, and I always felt like they were treating those characters like B-level characters. I never felt like they understood the real strength of that property."
Despite having left the film, Reed remains a fan of Mr. Fantastic, Invisible Woman, The Thing and the Human Torch, and he cites 'The Avengers' as an example of what he had in mind for his vision of the characters. "I actually feel like Joss Whedon's first 'Avengers' did a lot of the same things that I would have liked to have done in 'Fantastic Four'," he says. "Those massive battles in the streets of Manhattan for example."
On the subject of Fox's upcoming reboot in August, he describes feeling excited about going to see the film as a theatergoer. "I'm psyched for Josh Trank's version of 'Fantastic Four'," he says. I know nothing about it, but I know I really liked 'Chronicle', so I'm hopeful. I think there is a great 'Fantastic Four' movie yet to be made."
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'' stars Miles Teller as Mr. Fantastic, Kate Mara as The Invisible Woman, Michael B. Jordan as The Human Torch, Jamie Bell as The Thing, and Toby Kebbell as Victor Domashev/Doctor Doom. Directed by Josh Trank and written by Simon Kinberg, the film is set to be released in theaters on August 7th, 2015. What do you guys think about Peyton Reed's original vision of the characters? Would it have been a success? Sound off below!