Are they better than what’s currently in the theater?
Fantastic Four is now in theaters, but given the fervently negative reaction to the film we’re not entirely sure how much longer that’s going to be the case. There have been a great deal of rumors on every side of the situation, from director Josh Trank acting in unprofessional ways to the studio overly meddling in his creative vision of the film. It’s likely we won’t know the true story for years, but right now it’s the hottest super hero train wreck of geek community this side of Green Lantern.
The screenwriter of Josh Trank’s last film Chronicle, Max Landis, is known for being outspoken on social media. You may remember his rant against the destruction porn in the third act of Man of Steel:
He’s also known for tinkering with, well, fan fiction. He’s posted old projects that have gone nowhere, including an old Super Mario Bros. script he wrote back in the day. His latest posting, however, is pages from a Fantastic Four script he wrote on his own.
A script, you say?
Indeed. It seems to be from the opening of a fully written screenplay… or rather the first four pages. You can check them out on his twitter, but we have pictures below:
What’s happening in these pages?
It seems the FBI is raiding a farm where Reed, Sue, Johnny, and Ben are conducting an “experiment.” And by experiment, we mean they’re launching into space in “a spacecraft built entirely on the frame of heavily modified 1968 Corvair Ultra Van.”
Huh.
Yes, that is pretty strange. If anyone has seen the 1985 movie Explorers starring Ethan Hawke and River Phoenix, it’s kind of reminding us of that film. We’re willing to bet the similarities are not a coincidence.
Is Dr. Doom in it?
Not in the pages we saw, but according to Max Landis on twitter, “Victor was a good guy throughout my FF, desperately trying to get his best friends, Reed and Ben, to asylum in Latveria.”
It’s interesting to note that Landis putting Latveria in would have been the first time Dr. Doom has been associated with that country in a major motion picture, assuming the movie was made. Both the Tim Story film and the one currently in theaters have Doom as a member of Reed’s team who goes bad.
Landis goes on to say that the first film would end with the Mole Man killing Doom’s father, making him ruler of the country. Presumably, the second film would have him as a villain.
Why didn’t they use this for the new film?
It’s possible he just wrote the script for fun, or he pitched the idea and they went with another take instead. It’s Hollywood, so there’s a wide range of possibilities.
Will we ever see the full script?
Unfortunately, Landis doesn’t seem to want to make the entire screenplay available. Maybe somewhere down the line he’ll reconsider.
