Fantastic Four Director Josh Trank Wants to Make an “Ironic Cameo” in the MCU’s Reboot

Not content merely to make an ironic, Fantastic Four-themed cameo appearance in Arrested Development, filmmaker Josh Trank says he’s hoping he can score another one when Marvel finally gets around to rebooting the property whose most recent big-screen outing he directed. Trank, whose film was a critical and financial failure, has turned its dire reputation into fodder for humor on social media, with his current pinned tweet being a “hold my beer” response to a tweet claiming that “no superhero movie fails.” In the “cameo” tweet, Trank also noted that he hopes Peyton Reed will direct the film, although in a follow-up, he added that he does not personally know the Ant-Man and the Wasp filmmaker.

Trank’s Fantastic Four was hobbled by controversy and studio meddling, and while it is not clear whether the film would have been good without those variables, he and at least some of his cast insist that is the case. Back in 2016, Doctor Doom actor Toby Kebbell backed up a tweet that Trank had, at the time, posted and deleted, by claiming that Trank had put together a cut of the film that he described as “great” and noted that the audience would never see. Since then, Trank has largely distanced himself from Fantastic Four. You can check out Trank’s tweet below.

In the fourth season of Arrested Development, Trank made a cameo appearance — before Fantastic Four ever came out — that betrayed the same twisted sense of humor that has made Trank’s Twitter feed a treasure trove since be became active again after a Fantastic Four-related break. In the series, Tobias Funke tries to make his acting dreams come true by teaming up with actors from a never-released Fantastic Four movie (a nod to the famous 1994 version made so Fox could retain the license). When Tobias is at his lowest point in life, sleeping beneath a DumpSter dressed in a shabby Thing costume because he can’t get out of it, he’s served with a lawsuit from the Fantastic Four’s rights-holders (referred to in the series as Stan Lee and Marvel Enterprises) for unauthorized use of their trademark. The subpoena comes from a bum who is using Tobias’s padded suit as a pillow when Tobias wakes up. That bum? Josh Trank, director of the then-upcoming Fantastic Four movie.

There is no word yet on when or how Marvel plans to reboot the Fantastic Four property, although rumors are already starting to percolate. The lack of any solid details about Marvel Studios films beyond Spider-Man: Far From Home is likely to keep people speculating and making up their wish list items from now until at least Comic Con International in San Diego next month.