Michael Chiklis, alias the thing in the first adapted films of comics, thinks that The Fantastic 4 et The fantastic 4 and the surf of money deserved better.
It is almost an obligation: after a few years, almost any film earns points of sympathy thanks to the Spatio-temporal deformation of nostalgia. It works so well on the side of superheroes and others that Batman Forever, Batman Et Robin, Ghost Rider, Daredevil, Blade : Trinity, The extraordinary gentlemen league or Green Lantern have won more and more followers, ready to take out arms to defend them, more or less seriously.
The first adaptations of the fantastic 4 do not escape it. By putting aside the industrial accident of 4 Fantastic Roger Corman version, never released in the cinema, the characters created by Jack Kirby jumped into the Hollywood Bath in 2005 with the film directed by Tim Story. Ioan Gruffudd, Jessica Alba, Chris Evans and Michael Chiklis repaired in 2007 for The fantastic 4 and the surf of moneytheir second and last adventure since The third film originally planned was canceled.
Chris Evans has certainly resumed his role as Johnny Storm in Deadpool & Wolverinebut these fantastic 4 released in a pre-Avengers are now a distant memory. And the release in 2025 of Fantastic 4: First steps obviously fueled the species of nostalgia around these films, which would appear Almost like classics for some people. Especially Michael Chikliswho played Ben Grimm alias there.
These fantastic 4 deserved better, apparently
In a normal world, Michael Chiklis was mainly reflected in The Shieldthe fantastic series of Shawn Ryan where he embodied the memorable Vic Mackey. But in ours, he was naturally questioned about The Fantastic 4 par Collider. And, according to him, these films were not appreciated at their fair value:
“There are a lot of people who, I think, were wrong on the side of criticism. They really denied our films, and they were really underestimated since they were really loved by the public. It was one of those situations where the criticisms were not great with these films, but the public was, and the rest.«
Beyond this always lame comparison between the public and the criticism, which absolutely does not have to be aligned to please, the actor thinks that time has proven him right:
“I always said to myself, in my head:” Ok say what you want, but people will see them “. And now after all these years, people recognize that these are family films, fun … that have managed a lot of things. They may be imperfect, but these are really good films. »»
Surf the silver wave
Michael Chiklis is partly reason on the success of films. When it was released in 2005, The Fantastic 4 collected Over 330 million at the world box officefor a budget less than 100 million, excluding promo. It was in a pre-MCU world, where superhero films were still relatively rare.
The first X-Men had reopened the way in 2000, with nearly 300 million at the box office, for a budget of 75 million. With a budget that had grown beyond 100 million, X-Men 2 had crossed 400 million in 2003. The same year, Daredevil was satisfied with 180 million. And in 2005, Batman Begins Obviously had changed the situation by collecting 375 million in theaters, even if all of this were peanuts in front of Spider-Manthe first episode signed Sam Raimi having exploded everything in 2002 with 825 million in the cinema, for a budget of 140 million.
When The fantastic 4 and the surf of money was released in 2007, the landscape had therefore started to change well. He landed between Superman Returnswhich had been a cold shower for the studio in 2006, and the first Iron Manwhich was going to land in theaters barely a year after Marvel Studios.
And this surfing has packed the public a little less. With a larger budget (120 million) and smaller box office score (301 million), the continuation was a less advantageous operation for 20th Century Fox. And when the MCU changed the rules of the game, the studio decided to Reboot the fantastic 4, leading to the carnage of the film of 2015.
The MCCU version quartet is currently in theaters and is balancing at the box office with nearly 440 million, for an official budget of 200 million. The team will nevertheless be able to count on a boost since it will be in the foreground ofAvengers : Doomsdayplanned in theaters for December 2027.