Ant-Man and the Wasp director Peyton Reed has opened up about the Fantastic Four movie he never got to make. Unfortunately for Marvel fans, Reed Richards and the gang have never had the big screen treatment they truly deserve. That’s all likely going to change in the coming years, as Marvel Studios will be regaining the rights to the characters after their purchase of Fox is complete. And, based on what Reed has to say about what he wanted to do with the franchise, they may already have the perfect guy for the eventual reboot.
Peyton Reed recently participated in a lengthy Q&A following an IMAX screening of Ant-Man and the Wasp, which he helmed for Marvel Studios. During the course of the conversation, he talked a bit about when he worked on a Fantastic Four movie with Fox before Tim Story would eventually go on to make the first of his two live-action takes on Marvel’s first family. Here’s what Reed had to say about it.
Not only does Peyton Reed use The Beatles movie A Hard Day’s Night as a touchstone which, in itself, is fascinating, but he also makes it clear that they would have possibly made it a period piece and avoided the origin story. That’s all intriguing for various reasons. For one, the 60s would have meant revisiting the actual golden era for Marvel Comics. And it seems like the previous movies have suffered from trying to tackle the origin story, while also fitting in everything else to craft a satisfying narrative within two hours. Reed further went on to explain some of what went into their plans that never came to be.
Will the circle back to Peyton Reed’s idea of a 60s-set period movie with no origin story? Maybe. Maybe not. But it wouldn’t be surprising to learn that Reed is the guy who winds up directing the reboot, given how well he’s done on his pair of Ant-Man movies. For more with Reed, feel free to head on over to Collider for the full 80-minute Q&A.