Every Fantastic Four Movie Ranked, Worst To Best

The Fantastic Four has starred in four movies, three of them origin stories, and two of them reboots. Here’s which FF movie is actually the best.

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There have been four Fantastic Four movies of varying quality (so far) but which film about Marvel’s first family of superheroes is the best one? The first Fantastic Four film was produced by Roger Corman in 1994 and most Marvel fans have never seen it. 20th Century Fox then produced the next three Fantastic Four movies with two different casts: Tim Story directed 2005’s Fantastic Four and 2007’s sequel, Fantastic Four: Rise of the Silver Surfer. Finally, Josh Trank directed the ill-fated 2015 Fantastic Four reboot. In fact, two of the Fantastic Four movies are reboots, and three retold the superhero team’s origin, while every film saw them battle their arch-nemesis, Doctor Doom.

The Fantastic Four were created by Stan Lee and Jack Kirby in 1961 and it successfully launched the Marvel Comics universe. For years, Fantastic Four was the centerpiece of Marvel Comics and its most popular title. With Reed Richards, a.k.a. Mr. Fantastic, Sue Storm (later Sue Richards), a.k.a. The Invisible Girl (later The Invisible Woman), Ben Grimm, a.k.a. The Thing, and Johnny Storm, a.k.a. The Human Torch as the core foursome, the Fantastic Four pioneered cosmic adventures and superhero action in the Marvel universe. While Fantastic Four was adapted into cartoons, because of their complex powers, the fabulous foursome was deemed too difficult to adapt into live-action. However, in the mid-1980s, German producer Bernd Eichinger of Constantin Films bought the movie rights to the Fantastic Four and tried to make a feature film happen. The 1994 low-budget Fantastic Four movie Eichinger hired Roger Corman to produce was primarily made so Constantin wouldn’t lose the movie rights.

By the mid-2000s, Marvel superhero movies had proven to be blockbusters thanks to Sam Raimi’s Spider-Man and Bryan Singer’s X-Men movies. Fox also scored a moderate success at the box office (if not a critical one) with Mark Steven Johnson’s Daredevil starring Ben Affleck so the time was right to try a big-budget Fantastic Four movie. Although Chris Columbus and then Peyton Reed tried to get a Fantastic Four film off the ground since the late 1990s, Fox hired Tim Story to direct 2005’s Fantastic Four, which proved successful and grossed $333 million worldwide. The 2007 sequel, Fantastic Four: Rise of the Silver Surfer expanded the universe by introducing the Silver Surfer and Galactus, but it underperformed by grossing $289 million worldwide, scrapping the plan for a third film and a Silver Surfer spinoff. Once again in danger of the rights reverting to Marvel, Fox attempted a reboot directed by Josh Trank but the troubled production marred by studio meddling resulted in a critical and financial disaster. Fantastic Four 2015 was panned by critics and fans and earned just $167 million worldwide.

The Fantastic Four films have never been critical darlings or particularly beloved by most comic book fans. Shockingly, Corman’s 1994 Fantastic Four boasts the second-highest Rotten Tomatoes ranking at 30% Rotten. Fantastic Four 2005 is 27% Rotten, Fantastic Four: Rise of the Silver Surfer is the series’ high point at 37% Rotten, while Fantastic Four 2015 is the nadir at 9% Rotten. In 2019, Disney bought 20th Century Fox so that the Fantastic Four’s movie rights are finally under the auspices of Marvel Studios. Spider-Man trilogy director Jon Watts will direct the Fantastic Four’s reboot that will bring the fabulous foursome into the Marvel Cinematic Universe. While fans wait with the hopes that the Fantastic Four will finally have a true blockbuster film, they can still watch most of the previous Fantastic Four movies which are available to stream on Disney+. Here they are, ranked.

4. The Fantastic Four (1994)

1994’s The Fantastic Four told the origin of the superhero foursome as well as their initial conflict with Doctor Doom. The Fantastic Four starred Alex Hyde-White as Mr. Fantastic, Rebecca Stabb as the Invisible Woman, Jay Underwood as the Human Torch, and stuntman Michael Bailey Smith played Ben Grimm while Carl Ciarfalio wore an animatronic rubber suit to play the Thing. In addition, Joseph Culp played Doctor Doom while Kat Green played the Thing’s blind girlfriend, Alicia Masters. The strange plot involves the Fantastic Four being captured by Doom and they all chase after another villain called The Jeweler (Ian Trigger) and a priceless diamond that can power a laser cannon Doom plans to use to destroy New York City.

Roger Corman’s low-budget film company, New Horizons Pictures, was hired by Constantin Films to produce The Fantastic Four on a shoestring $1 million budget and it shows. The film was shot in less than a month and the cast and crew completed their work believing that The Fantastic Four would get a theatrical release. However, it was so bad, Marvel bought the film so that it would never be shown (although the bootleg copies of the film are available). As for the film itself, obviously, the meager budget and special effects of the early 1990s couldn’t properly do the Fantastic Four’s powers and superheroics justice, although the motion control Thing suit conveys a convincing degree of character and facial expressions. The Fantastic Four is a bottom-drawer product of its era and circumstances, although there’s a sincerity and innocent charm to the hokey production. A 2015 documentary titled Doomed was later made detailing the controversial making of The Fantastic Four.

3. Fantastic Four (2015)

Fantastic Four 2015 stars Miles Teller as Reed Richards, Kate Mara as Sue Storm, Michael B. Jordan as Johnny Storm, Jamie Bell as Ben Grimm, and Toby Kebbell as Victor Von Doom, The story is about brilliant young inventor Reed Richards being asked to join the Baxter Foundation by Dr. Franklin Storm (Reg E. Cathey) to work on a dimensional transporter that would open a gateway to “Planet Zero.” When the foursome enters Planet Zero, they are imbued with powers but some of them, like Ben, are horrifically changed. Meanwhile, Victor is trapped in Planet Zero but returns a year later transformed into Doctor Doom. Reed, Sue, Johnny, and Ben have to stop Victor from having Planet Zero consume the world. In the end, they become the Fantastic Four.

The behind-the-scenes drama of Josh Trank’s Fantastic Four studio-forced reshoots and its troubled production has been well-documented. Supposedly unhappy with Trank’s director’s cut and his “erratic” on-set behavior, Fox took the film away from him and brought in X-Men’s Simon Kinberg, one of the writers and producers, to oversee reshoots and changes, primarily to the second and third acts. Trank based his Fantastic Four on Marvel’s Ultimate Fantastic Four comics and he did bring interesting ideas by equating their powers to body horror, but the final film sees a significant tonal shift where the second half becomes a nonsensical special effects spectacle after the first half’s dour but more character-based exploration of the foursome and Doom. The movie’s trailer contains shots that are not in the final film and even details like Sue Storm’s hair color in the movie’s second half don’t match the first. Overall, Fantastic Four 2015 is a grim Frankenstein monster of a superhero film that drained the color, life, and fun out of Marvel’s first family.

2. Fantastic Four (2005)

Fantastic Four 2005 stars Ioan Gruffudd as Reed Richards, Jessica Alba as Sue Storm, Chris Evans as Johnny Storm, Michael Chiklis as Ben Grimm/The Thing, and Julian McMahon as Victor Von Doom. In this version, Von Doom is reimagined as a corporate titan who funds Richards’ outer space mission so that all five of them are imbued by cosmic rays. As Reed, Sue, Ben, and Johnny deal with their new powers and what to do with them, they become publicly labeled as “The Fantastic Four.” Meanwhile, Victor nearly loses his company as he is transformed into a metallic man who can shoot lightning. Doom tries to destroy the Fantastic Four but they combine their abilities to defeat him. A mid-credits scene shows an immobilized Doctor Doom extradited to his home country of Latveria.

Tim Story’s Fantastic Four follows Sam Raimi’s Spider-Man route by attempting a faithful translation of Stan Lee and Jack Kirby’s comics to the big screen, complete with sitcom-level interfamily squabbles, eye-rolling relationship drama between Sue and Reed, and Johnny and Ben’s inane slapstick hijinks. The film’s biggest letdown is arguably the portrayal of Doctor Doom that turned him into a version of Willem Dafoe’s Norman Osborn from Spider-Man. The prosthetic Thing suit worn by Chiklis is a highlight but the CGI effects of the mid-2000s struggled to make Reed’s stretching look convincing, although Johnny’s flame and flying and Sue’s invisibility fare better. Fantastic Four is disappointingly light on actual superhero action and the foursome are actually the cause of most of the problems they end up solving. The film also has very low stakes since Victor’s supervillain plan is simply to destroy Reed and the others. However, the cast gets by on their charm and it’s fascinating seeing Chris Evans playing the cocksure Human Torch years before he embodied Captain America for Marvel Studios.

1. Fantastic Four: Rise of the Silver Surfer (2007)

As Sue and Reed prepare for their wedding, the Silver Surfer comes to Earth to prepare to be devoured by his master, Galactus. The Surfer causes damage all over the world and he inadvertently resurrects Doctor Doom. Meanwhile, the U.S. military recruits the Fantastic Four to help them capture the Silver Surfer and the heroes are forced to work with Doom, who plans to steal the alien’s surfboard and his cosmic powers. As the Fantastic Four battle Doom to retrieve the surfboard, Galactus arrives on Earth. Because he formed a bond with Sue, the Silver Surfer betrays Galactus and destroys him. The film ends with Reed and Sue finally getting married.

Fantastic Four: Rise of the Silver Surfer is based on Lee and Kirby’s Galactus saga in the comics as well as Ultimate Fantastic Four, but fans were understandably upset that Galactus was portrayed as a giant gas cloud instead of a titanic humanoid in purple armor. The Silver Surfer is played by the inimitable Doug Jones, who provided the motion capture, while Laurence Fishburne provided the Surfer’s voice. Rise of the Silver Surfer has global stakes and has better superhero action, including a thrilling chase sequence between the Surfer and the Human Torch. The film also debuts the Fantasticar and it has a memorable guest-starring role by Andre Braugher as General Hager. As the only Fantastic Four movie that isn’t an origin, Rise of the Silver Surfer gets to the action faster and has the purest superhero concept of any of the Fantastic Four films but it still shortchanges the characters, especially the Silver Surfer. While not coming close to being a great comic book movie, Fantastic Four: Rise of the Silver Surfer is an improvement on the 2005 film and it ends up being the best Fantastic Four movie made so far.

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