Miles Teller’s hands were tied. His name had been attached to role of Reed Richards in Josh Trank’s The Fantastic Four for months, but because nothing had been confirmed, the actor couldn’t talk details every time he was asked about the project in interviews. And he was asked. Often. Now, the handcuffs have been removed. Teller has been confirmed as a member of Trank’s Four ensemble, and he’s able to speak – on record – about the project in question. So, what does he have to say?
In an interview with IGN, the Spectacular Now and That Awkward Moment co-star says he didn’t grow up on these comics ("Fantastic Four is my dad’s favorite superhero comic," Teller says), but he was attracted to the idea of working with Trank (Chronicle) and the eventual cast. Then Teller opened up about the "ground" script, explaining:
When I read the script, I didn't feel like I was reading this larger-than-life, incredible supehero tale. These are all very human people that end up having to become I guess what is known as the Fantastic Four. So for me it was just a really good story and gives me an opportunity to play something different from my own skin. It's a proper character and that's my favorite stuff to do."
A grounded FF movie is going to be difficult to pull off, unless – as rumors suggested – Trank is completely changing the team’s origin. I mean, the Fantastic Four is a group born of a tragic accident in OUTER SPACE. One of its heroes is made of out rocks. Rocks! Another can surround his body in flames. "Grounded" isn’t one of the terms that comes to mind when I think of Four. Maybe Daredevil. But Four always took advantage of their incredible powers to tell intergalactic stories that travel space and time. This doesn’t sound like it is going to go in that direction.
It is interesting to hear Teller say they want to go in this direction as a rival project – Marc Webb’s The Amazing Spider-Man 2 -- shifts its own gears and embraces the spectacle of delivering a massive, bells-and-whistles hero blockbuster. Audiences’ tastes have been fickle when it comes to the hero genre. After Batman Begins, studios began chasing the grounded, real-life hero stories. But movies like The Avengers and Man of Steel embraced the overblown nature of their characters to deliver chaos on a large scale.
Four should be larger-than-life. Honestly, I’m very curious to see what Trank is cooking up for his reboot. He did an excellent job with Chronicle, and seems like the right person for the job. The movie hits theaters on June 19, 2015.
