Fantastic Four was a bad film. There really isn’t any getting around that fact… however… it was also a movie that found a way to be fun from time to time and give enough laughs along with some decent visual effect and action shots to make watching it a somewhat enjoyable experience for me… yes, even with it being a bad movie (It’s a lot like Ghost Rider that way).
Recently, our good friends over at MoviesOnline had a chance to chat with Ioan Gruffudd (Mr. Fantastic) about Fantastic Four 2 and 3. Here are some of the highlights of that conversation:
Q: Are you allowed to tell us any information about Fantastic Four 2?
Ioan: Well, I had a phone call this morning from Fox saying ‘will you stop talking about the movie so much and stop ruining it for everyone’. So, what I can tell you, as the title suggests, it’s the rise of the Silver Surfer and that’s it [laughs]. At the beginning of the movie, we are embracing our powers, sort of coping with living in the public eye so that’s an exciting element of it. There’s an aspect of the movie where we sort of toy with the idea of not being superheroes anymore because it’s such a responsibility.
Then, of course the Silver Surfer arrives and the world is looking to us to help save it again. As far as a movie, I think it’s a much better movie than the first one because that was sort of an origin movie and we were trying to sell it to a wider audience and not just cater to the fans. So, I think the fans were slightly disgruntled with the first movie because it took so long to get into it. And, we were working out the difficulty of presenting four or five different effects together working simultaneously. So, this one, we start the movie with a bang and it doesn’t relent till the end. It’s a real roller coaster of a ride.
Q: Is there any worry though that there’s already four of you and Dr. Doom, throw in Silver Surfer and Galactus, is it too much?
Ioan: I don’t know. We’ve established Dr. Doom and the four of us so that’s fine. I think the Silver Surfer is such a great character. You need somebody of that nature to come and steal our thunder.
Q: Is the second Fantastic Four on a bigger scale?
Ioan: Absolutely on every level. There are so many more effects shots in this movie compared to the first one.
Q: Has Fox already said to you that if Fantastic Four 2 does really well, it will jump right back into Fantastic Four 3?
Ioan: Certainly when we were shooting the movie, you got that sense that they want to try and complete this franchise. I can’t open my mouth.
Q: Perhaps the movie ends in a way that you might want to see a third movie?
Ioan: [grinning] Perhaps it does. Everyone’s aware that people have signed a three picture deal and I’d love for that to happen. They probably know now how it’s going to perform with the tracking and they have an idea.
Q: Perhaps Fox is working on a third script as we speak?
Ioan: I’m sure of it. Yeah, they must be. If they have half a brain.
However, as we all know Fox execs don’t always have half a brain. Still… the Sci-Fi geek in me is looking forward to watching this. Should be fun. Go on over and read the whole interview here.
