We live in a cinematic era defined by superheroes, but that doesn’t mean all superhero movies work. For every Captain America: The Winter Soldier, or The Dark Knight, there’s a Spider-Man 3, or – god forbid – a Fantastic Four. The recent Fantastic Four film was widely considered a major failure for 20th Century Fox, and we most certainly agree with that assessment. It’s definitely a black eye for everyone involved in the production, but according to Miles Teller: everyone involved tried his or her best to make it work.
During a recent appearance on the Happy Sad Confused podcast, Miles Teller opened up about the recent failure of the Fantastic Four reboot:
People think that when you make something like a Fantastic Four that doesn’t do well, people think ‘Oh you phoned it in’ and it couldn’t be more untrue. You work harder on the bad films, or the films that turn out maybe not the way you intended, because something’s not working. And I thought it was kind of unjustly critiqued that way; there are even bigger bombs if you’re looking at how much money went into the production and what they reaped back. But I think it’s unfortunate a movie like that becomes a scarlet letter on a resume when so many talented people worked really hard and maybe a handful of people took it in a negative direction. But so many people worked really hard on that that are so talented.
So while he most certainly recognizes that the film failed, he adds that everyone involved tried to create the best possible product. He also notes that – although the film failed financially – there have been worse bombs, and it seems somewhat odd that Fantastic Four has become a cautionary tale when so many other films have done so much worse. Ultimately, he considers it a result of unfortunate circumstances, because everyone involved in the move has immense talent; those talents just didn’t properly coalesce during the film’s production.
We’re not going to try and defend the recent Fantastic Four reboot; it’s an awful movie. That being said, Miles Teller does have a point. No one can blame any of film’s actors for the quality of the final product. Between Teller, Michael B. Jordan, Kate Mara, and Jamie Bell, the headlining members of the cast most certainly brought their A-game to the production. The issues that plagued Fantastic Four primarily happened behind the scenes when 20th Century FOX and director Josh Trank butted heads over the direction to take Marvel’s first family. There was very clearly a good movie lying beneath the chopped up, jumbled mess that ultimately hit theaters; the film simply suffered because too many people pulled it in too many different directions.
Check out the Happy Sad Confused podcast below, starting at the 8:33 mark, to here everything Miles Teller had to say about the matter:
At the end of the day we have a sneaking suspicion that Miles Teller’s career will recover from his involvement in Fantastic Four. He’s one of the strongest up and coming actors working today, with numerous great roles on the horizon. However, whether or not the Fantastic Four live to see another film, remains to be seen.
