Michael Chiklis hopes Marvel’s Fantastic Four reboot doesn’t go too dark

With all the Marvel characters once owned by 20th Century Fox now under Disney’s roof, Marvel Studios has begun setting the stage for their introduction into the Marvel Cinematic Universe. While we may see a few of those characters who once called Fox home a little sooner than expected, the first to receive their own reboot film will be the Fantastic Four.

Spider-Man: No Way Home director Jon Watts will helm the Fantastic Four reboot, but this won’t be the first time that Marvel’s first family have been retooled. After the release of the lighter-toned Fantastic Four and Fantastic Four: Rise of the Silver Surfer, 20th Century Fox decided to move forward with a gritty reboot from Chronicle director Josh Trank. The results were… well, the less said the better, but Michael Chiklis told ScreenRant that he hopes Marvel doesn’t make the same mistake of continuing down the dark and gritty path.

Just understand, the real tone and tenor of The Fantastic Four is as we did it. It’s not meant to be dark and brooding. It’s never going to be The Dark Knight. Don’t try to make it that. Don’t expect it to be that. The Ever-Lovin’ Blue-Eyed Thing was from Brooklyn and he was a Dodgers fan. They were a sweet family and that’s the way it’s meant to be. It wasn’t meant to be hardcore and dark and brooding. Try to make it that, you will fail.

Some might argue that those first two Fantastic Four movies were perhaps a little too light-hearted, but if anyone is finally going to crack the team, it will be Marvel. Michael Chiklis also had a little advice for whomever steps into the rocky shoes of Ben Grimm/The Thing. “Go CGI if you can,” Chiklis said with a laugh. “Wardrobe was something else, but it was still a pretty amazing experience.” Michael Chiklis wore a full prosthetic suit in the first two movies which, in my opinion, still holds up pretty well. When Jamie Bell played The Thing in the first Fantastic Four reboot, they decided to go the CG route.