6. Fantastic Four (2005) and Rise of the Silver Surfer (2007)
We’re merging both mid-‘00s Fantastic Four movies into one entry, so this will include Rise of the Silver Surfer. Tim Story’s first Fantastic Four is an odd duck. It has some amazing casting with Chris Evans as Human Torch and Michael Chiklis as Thing. It’s fine as an introduction to the Fantastic Four themselves and their family dynamics. Its main problem, as was the big flaw of many Fox superhero movies, was that it was too afraid to really spread its wings and embrace the comic book shit. Julian McMahon, for instance, did a good job with what they gave him as Doctor Doom, but what they gave him wasn’t enough or Doctor Doom.
That they even had the Silver Surfer in the first place for the sequel feels like a miracle, amplified more so by the fact that it’s such a perfect depiction of the character. Yet at the same time, there’s the whole Galactus is a Cloud debacle. Remember when people were defending Cloud Galactus because, “If you pause it at the right spot, the evil gas sort of looks like his helmet?” These movies were a draft or two away from being something, but at the end of the day, we were left with a Fantastic Four that just didn’t feel fantastic.
5. Fantastic Four Radio Show (1975)
It only lasted 13 episodes but back in 1975, there was an audio adaptation of early Fantastic Four comics in the form of a radio show. Stan Lee narrated it, because of course he did, and it did a great job translating the drawn page to pure audio. Sure, a radio show can only go so far in a list like this, but listening to these are worth your time, and it’s a shame that they only produced a handful of episodes.
The main memorable thing about this is the cast. They were all excellent, but Johnny Storm was played by none other than Bill Murray prior to his breaking out via Saturday Night Live. Using his experience from the National Lampoon Radio Hour, Murray felt strangely at home as Johnny. It was definitely better than his Marvel role as… whatever that guy’s name was in Ant-Man and the Wasp: Quantumania. No, I’m not looking that up. No, guys, I don’t care that research is part of my job, I refuse to look up who…
He was Lord Krylar. Happy?
4. Fantastic Four: The Animated Series (1994)
The Marvel Action Hour version of Fantastic Four lasted for two seasons, and each year was a very different beast. The first season was rough, had bad animation, and suffered from questionable creative decisions. It’s the season where Johnny is at a wedding, gets on stage, and a rap video breaks out. Oh, and the Fantastic Four’s snooty landlady is there. The cartoon was bad enough that the Fantastic Four comic at the time had Ant-Man laughing his ass off while watching it.