Director Tim Story -- who helmed 20th Century Fox's 2005 Marvel film Fantastic Four and its 2007 sequel, Fantastic Four: Rise of the Silver Surfer -- has offered his advice to whoever ends up sitting in the director's chair for the Fantastic Four's Marvel Cinematic Universe debut.
Marvel Studios has yet to announce any plans for a Fantastic Four adaptation of its own. However, with Disney's recent acquisition of Fox, it appears to only be a matter of time before Marvel's First Family finally makes its presence felt in the MCU.
Story's first piece of advice to whoever ends up at the helm of the Fantastic Four's next cinematic outing is short and sweet. "First, I'd tell them to listen to [Marvel Studios president] Kevin Feige," he told CinemaBlend. "Kevin Feige is the man."
Kevin Feige became President of Marvel Studios in 2007, and his oversight has been credited with being one of the major reasons for the MCU's continued success. However, Feige's involvement in Marvel-based films can be traced as far back as 2000, when he had a cameo in the original X-Men (albeit one that did not make the theatrical cut).
Additionally, Feige served as an executive producer on both of Story's Fantastic Four films. That being said, while Story appears confident in Feige's ability to ensure a new Fantastic Four movie is a success, he did offer one more tip to the franchise's next director.
"I would just say, do all your research on [Mister Fantastic] Reed Richards," Story said. "Stretching is not easy. But I wouldn't have much to say, they've got an incredible, incredible system happening over there and I don't think they need to be told anything. I can't wait to see it."
Despite being one of Marvel Comics' most revered and seminal properties, the Fantastic Four has never fared particularly well on film. Executive producer Roger Corman was behind 1994's The Fantastic Four, the first attempt at bringing Marvel's First Family to the big screen. However, the film was pulled ahead of its planned release and has never (officially) seen the light of day.
Meanwhile, while both of Story's Fantastic Four films did rather well commercially, they were also the subject of much criticism from fans and critics alike. Fox rebooted the franchise in 2015 with director Josh Trank's Fantastic Four, which fared even worse with critics, as well as underperformed at the box office and resulted in a significant financial loss for the studio.
Disney's acquisition of 21st Century Fox was finalized earlier this year, effectively granting Marvel Studios access to the Fantastic Four. However, as previously stated, the studio has yet to announce any plans to bring the team into the fold and has remained tight-lipped about the MCU's next phase in general.