If you were to name the worst Fantastic Four movie, you’d have plenty to choose from and a 25% chance of landing on the one Toby Kebbell would rather never be asked about: the 2015 version in which he played Doctor Doom.
And when Toby Kebbell says he doesn’t want to talk about Fantastic Four or revisit it, he’s serious. “I’d eat a whole croque en bouche of placenta puffs rather than be asked if I would go back and be terrible as Doctor Doom again. ‘Hey, you were terrible as Doctor Doom. Would you go back and do it again?’ Eh, no.”
But Toby Kebbell won’t take full responsibility for the dreadful Fantastic Four, pinning it on higher-ups within the Marvel spectrum. “At that time Marvel was already the apex predator, it was already the one to beat, they were already the people to try to do the thing with,…Why that effort wasn’t put in, I don’t know. But, yeah I know none of those people will call me back to work with them, so the truth as I see it is that more could have been done by the powers that be.” He previously stated that Fantastic Four fell “victim of bad leadership and organization.”
Of the Fantastic Four core cast–Miles Teller (Mister Fantastic), Michael B. Jordan (Human Torch), Kate Mara (Invisible Woman), and Jamie Bell (The Thing)–Toby Kebbell has been the most vocal on his disdain. The same goes for the way he speaks about his career as a whole. Kebbell does have his tongue firmly in cheek when recognizing his filmography, which, to his own admission, is filled with duds. “I’m in Hurricane Heist, you don’t have to lie that I’m a good actor…I didn’t realize I made it a goal of mine to ruin cinema, but I did it. I fully accomplished it.” Uh, congratulations…? That said, his AppleTV+ series Servant is faring quite well with critics and audiences, with a fourth season premiering on January 13th.
While Toby Kebbell will never play Doctor Doom again, he does wish the upcoming Marvel Cinematic Universe attempt well, saying he hopes they do the story and character justice. Only time will tell on that one, as Marvel’s next go at Fantastic Four won’t come out until February 14th, 2025.