Just like the 2005 Fantastic Four film, the Fantastic Four reboot decided to feature Doctor Doom as the first villain the eponymous superhero team battle. That makes sense given that he’s not just their greatest adversary, but one of the greatest comic book villains of all time. That said, Fantastic Four 2 will need to find a different main antagonist to keep things fresh. Although the team doesn’t have the biggest rogues gallery, there are still plenty of enemies from the comics to introduce, and two of the film’s heroes already know who they would like to face off against in the sequel.
In an interview with Tech Times, Ben Grimm, a.k.a. The Thing, actor Jamie Bell suggested that the sequel use Silver Surfer as the antagonist, following in the footsteps of 2007’s Fantastic Four: Rise of the Silver Surfer. Offering a different opinion, his costar Michael B. Jordan, who plays Johnny Storm, a.k.a. The Human Torch, mentioned that Namor the Sub-Mariner, a frequent frenemy to the team, would be a good foe, citing his infatuation with Susan Storm and the belief that he is the world’s "strongest mutant." Both are good choices given their history with the Fantastic Four, though one is way more likely to happen than the other.
Silver Surfer debuted in 1968’s Fantastic Four #48 as herald to the world eater Galactus, but soon turned against his master and helped the team stop Earth from being destroyed. He was previous played physically by Doug Jones and voiced by Laurence Fishburne in Fantastic Four: Rise of the Silver Surfer, and there were plans to give the hero a solo movie. While it would be great to see Silver Surfer back on the big screen, the filmmakers would need to be careful not to retread too much of the same ground from the 2007 sequel. We don’t want a Star Trek Into Darkness-type situation: telling a story using the loose framework of a movie from another continuity.
As for Namor, he has a complicated relationship with the Fantastic Four, with his interactions with them split between being ally and adversary. Although Namor, the king of Atlantis, has been around since 1939, he made his return to Marvel in 1962’s Fantastic Four #4. Unfortunately, the chances of him battling Marvel’s First Family on the big screen are zero. Marvel sold Namor’s film rights to Universal in the late 1990s, but was recently able to secure them back. While there are currently no plans to make a Namor movie or feature him in the MCU (there’s still a lot of paperwork to sift through), there’s no way Marvel is going to let him out of their grasp again. So sorry, Mr. Jordan, you’re out of luck with that idea.
You can catch Fantastic Four in theaters tomorrow, and Fantastic Four 2 is currently set for release on June 9, 2017.
