Fox has been waiting nearly three months to release its official trailer for The Fantastic Four. But because of a leak, it had to release the trailer a day early. This isn't unlike what happened to Avengers: of Ultron back in October and, more recently, Batman v. Superman: Dawn of Justice last Thursday.
So Fox pulled the trigger on Sunday, releasing a much darker, grittier take on Marvel's first family than the Jessica Alba–led films of the early 2000s. Here are some of the key moments from the trailer:
1) Doom is revealed
(Fox)
The teaser trailer released in January didn't really give a good look at the film's villain, Victor Domashev (Tony Kebbell), who is known in the comic books as Dr. Doom.
In this trailer, however, we see much more of Domashev/Doom, sporting his trademark green cloak and metal features. His face looks more like organic metal skin — notice the veiny markings and wrinkles — than it does in the comic books, where Doom sports more of mask:
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Avengers World No. 16. (Marvel)
2) We get a better look at the Fantastic Four's powers
(Fox)
In this GIF, you see the Invisible Woman (Kate Mara) using a force field to protect herself while crushing some big shipping containers. That's a lot more than what we had previously seen, and a true interpretation of her comic book powers. It should also assuage people's fears that the Invisible Woman would be written as the kind of human swoon she was when Jessica Alba was portraying her.
We also see a bit more of Human Torch (Michael B. Jordan):
(Fox)
And The Thing (Jamie Bell):
(Fox)
Though the trailer doesn't really explain why The Thing doesn't wear pants:
(Fox)
3) The sci-fi experimentation theme
(Fox)
When the Fantastic Four comic book was created, the United States was in the middle of the space race. And many writers in the comic book industry treated this idea of space exploration with a sense of wonder and optimism.
That's changed a bit in this trailer, where you get the sense that the film might be more skeptical of the government. The shot above shows Reed Richards's (Miles Teller) arm strapped down, suggesting he's being held against his will or experimented on. There's also another part in the trailer in which Dr. Franklin Storm (Reg E. Cathey) is asking where his children are, giving the impression that they could be somewhere in another dimension, but are just as likely being held and observed by the government.
4) It's going to be a funny-ish movie
(Fox)
Even though The Fantastic Four seems to fall into the genre of dark, moody, superhero films, it looks like there will at least be slivers of slapstick. After all, Teller and Jordan really shine when they're playing comedic roles.
5) Susan and Johnny Storm's dad is black
(Fox)
Back when Michael B. Jordan's casting was announced, some comic fans said some pretty ignorant, racist stuff. In the comic books Johnny Storm is white, as is his sister, Susan, and their father, Franklin.
There was a question (and anger from those racist comic fans) of how Jordan's casting would be written into the storyline. Never mind that coming from a biracial family is very much a reality for a lot of Americans.
You'll notice that Reg E. Cathey, better known as Freddy from House of Cards, is playing Franklin Storm, making both father and son black characters. It's a stark reminder of how rare it is to see black superheroes, and even rarer to see the parents of black superheroes.
We've seen Spider-Man movie after Spider-Man movie with Aunt May and Uncle Ben, Thor movies with Odin and Frigga, and even Tony Stark's father in the Iron Man films. These characters help superheroes learn their morals and find their good. And it's about time we see those messages, that goodness, come from someone whose son doesn't look like Marvel's current crop of heroes, and from a parent who doesn't look like those heroes' parents.
