50 Fun Facts About Fantastic Four Movies

Who directed both Fantastic Four (2005) and Rise of the Silver Surfer (2007)?

Fox hired him in April 2004 after being impressed by his early cut of the comedy Taxi.

Who plays Reed Richards in the 2005 film?

Mads Mikkelsen auditioned for the role and remembered it as humiliating.

Which future Captain America plays Johnny Storm in the Tim Story films?

He returned as this version of Johnny Storm in Deadpool & Wolverine in 2024.

Who plays Sue Storm in the 2005 and 2007 films?

Cameron Diaz was approached but declined because she did not want to wear superhero makeup.

Who plays Ben Grimm / The Thing in the 2005 film, entirely in practical makeup at his own insistence?

The Shield star's prosthetics were redesigned for the sequel so he could take them off between takes.

Who plays Victor von Doom in the Tim Story films?

Robert Downey Jr. was considered for the role in 2005 and finally played Doom in the MCU twenty years later.

In the 2005 film, where does the team get its powers?

The 2015 reboot swapped the space station for a Quantum Gate to another dimension.

On which New York landmark does The Thing accidentally cause a pile-up while stopping a suicide?

The rescue is what gets the team dubbed the Fantastic Four by the media.

What does Victor von Doom's body begin turning into after the storm in the 2005 film?

Powering Reed's machine to cure Ben accelerates the change and lets him produce electricity.

How is Doom finally defeated at the end of the 2005 film?

The thermal shock freezes him in place and he is shipped back to Latveria as a statue.

Stan Lee cameos in the 2005 film as which comics character?

It was the first time he played an actual named Marvel character on screen rather than a generic bystander.

Which X-Men star's face does Reed morph into in a deleted scene from the 2005 film?

The scene was meant to hint at a shared universe with Fox's X-Men and Sony's Spider-Man; it was restored in the extended cut.

Which producer's B-movie Fantastic Four was made in 1992 purely to keep the rights and never released?

Its budget was cut to about $1 million; the cast reportedly had no idea they were making an ashcan copy.

Which German producer's company bought the Fantastic Four film rights from Marvel in 1986?

The Constantin Film option was estimated at $250,000; a Warner and Columbia baulked at his $40-45 million budget.

Which director, hired for Fantastic Four in 1995, said he was fired for wanting Kirby-style art?

He developed the script with Michael France and stayed on as a producer through 1492 Pictures.

Which director left the Fantastic Four project in 2000 to make Scooby-Doo?

Peyton Reed took over in 2001 and left in 2003; he later reused his ideas for Ant-Man and the Wasp: Quantumania.

Which animated film prompted Tim Story to change the 2005 script and add effects to avoid similarities?

Critics still compared it unfavourably with Pixar's family of superheroes.

Roughly how much did Fantastic Four (2005) gross worldwide?

It topped the US box office with $56.1 million and was the highest-grossing superhero film by a Black director until Black Panther.

Fantastic Four (2005) moved its release a week to avoid opening against which Steven Spielberg film?

Its teaser had debuted in front of Elektra and the full trailer before Revenge of the Sith.

Who voices the Silver Surfer in Rise of the Silver Surfer?

Doug Jones performed the character physically and supposedly did not know he was being dubbed.

Which cosmic entity is the Silver Surfer serving in the 2007 film?

The story drew on the comics' Galactus Trilogy and the Ultimate Extinction miniseries.

What happens to Johnny after his first encounter with the Surfer in the 2007 film?

At the climax he absorbs all four powers to fight Doom for the board.

Which river does the Silver Surfer drain by creating a crater in the 2007 film?

The Four track his cosmic energy to London but fail to stop him.

Where do Reed and Sue finally get married at the end of Rise of the Silver Surfer?

Their first ceremony was interrupted by the Surfer; the epilogue then sends them to an emergency in Venice.

Which Marvel character was in the original Rise of the Silver Surfer script before becoming General Hager?

Some of Hager's lines came straight from Fury's dialogue in Ultimate Extinction.

Fox's promotion for the 2007 film that drew a warning from the US Mint involved altering 40,000 of what?

The 2005 California state quarters got the Surfer on the reverse plus a website URL, which the Mint said turned currency into private advertising.

What was the working title of Rise of the Silver Surfer before it was named in August 2006?

Filming began in Vancouver on August 28, 2006, for a June 2007 release.

How did Rise of the Silver Surfer's worldwide gross compare with the first film's?

It opened bigger ($58 million) but dropped 66% in its second weekend, and Fox shelved a third film and a Surfer spin-off.

Which actor did Tim Story say in 2007 he wanted to cast as Black Panther in a third film?

Beau Garrett hoped to return as Nova and Alba wanted to introduce Franklin Richards; the film was cancelled by 2009.

Who directed the 2015 reboot Fantastic Four?

He was hired in 2012 off a found-footage hit and later disowned the finished film.

Who plays Reed Richards in the 2015 film?

All three of the other names were tested for the part.

Which actor's casting as Johnny Storm in 2015 drew death threats to the director?

Trank said he wanted a Black Sue Storm too but the studio pushed back.

Who plays Sue Storm in the 2015 reboot?

Ronan, Robbie and Rossum were all tested; Mara later called the experience horrible.

Which actor is a fully digital Thing built on his motion-capture performance in the 2015 film?

He sought advice from Andy Serkis and wore stilts on set to match the character's eye-line.

What is the name of the parallel dimension the young scientists teleport to in the 2015 film?

It is reached through the Quantum Gate, whose explosion gives the four their powers.

What was Doctor Doom's full name going to be in the 2015 film before fan backlash forced a change?

Toby Kebbell said he spent most of his effort on getting the voice right.

In which US state was the 2015 film shot, lured by tax incentives?

It was planned for Vancouver; the Baton Rouge shoot lasted 72 days and drew $29.1 million in incentives.

Fox ordered reshoots on the 2015 film partly because the first cut felt like a sequel to which film?

Trank tweeted the day before release that a year earlier he had a 'fantastic version' nobody would see, then deleted it.

What CinemaScore grade did audiences give the 2015 Fantastic Four?

The Hollywood Reporter called it the worst grade anyone could remember for a major-studio superhero title.

Which film beat the 2015 Fantastic Four to number one on its opening weekend?

Its $25.6 million opening was one of the lowest ever for a big-budget superhero film.

Which Golden Raspberry awards did the 2015 film win?

Estimated losses for Fox ran to $80-100 million, second only to Tomorrowland that year.

Which two composers scored the 2015 film, in a soundtrack critics called a strength?

Rapper El-P scored the end credits, and RM of BTS recorded a promotional single for the Korean release.

Which director publicly volunteered to make a sequel to the 2015 film out of admiration for it?

Fox pulled the planned 2017 sequel from its schedule in November 2015 anyway.

Who plays the alternate-universe Reed Richards killed by Wanda in Multiverse of Madness?

A long-time fan-cast choice, his Earth-838 Reed sits on the Illuminati.

Who kills the Tim Story-era Johnny Storm in Deadpool & Wolverine?

Deadpool had just repeated Johnny's insults about her, and the post-credits scene proves he really said them.

Who plays Reed Richards in the MCU's The Fantastic Four: First Steps?

Vanessa Kirby, Joseph Quinn and Ebon Moss-Bachrach complete the team, in a 1960s-styled alternate reality.

Which director left the MCU Fantastic Four film in 2022 for a break from superhero movies?

Watts had directed the three MCU Spider-Man films; Shakman came from WandaVision.

Who plays Ben Grimm's love interest, the blind artist Alicia Masters, in the Tim Story films?

Her role was expanded for Rise of the Silver Surfer, which also introduced the Fantasticar.

Which actor physically performed the Silver Surfer on set in the 2007 film?

His performance in a grey-silver suit was enhanced digitally, while Laurence Fishburne supplied the voice.

Which actor plays Dr. Franklin Storm, father of Johnny and adoptive father of Sue, in the 2015 film?

Cathey described Franklin as a brilliant scientist driven to help gifted kids who had fallen through the cracks.