Legion Creator Claims His Doctor Doom Movie Is "Done" at Marvel

Despite being Marvel's First Family, the Fantastic Four's life in live-action has never lived up [...]

Despite being Marvel's First Family, the Fantastic Four's life in live-action has never lived up to their comic book legacy. Between the 1994 adaptation that was made solely for the purpose of retaining rights to the characters and never saw an official release and the 2005 adaptation and its sequel, and including the 2015 adaptation, the films have fallen far short of Marvel fans' standards. In recent years, Fargo and Legion creator Noah Hawley has been working on a film focusing on Doctor Doom, leading audiences to wonder about the project's fate with the character now absorbed into the Marvel Cinematic Universe. Unfortunately, fans will be disappointed to learn that this iteration of the project is "done."

"I mean, where it stands is now that the movie is done and Legion is done and I've taken a little time off because someone told me there was this word 'vacation,' which means you don't work, which sounded really interesting to me," Hawley shared with Deadline when asked about the status of the project. "But you know, I need to circle back to them and announce that I would love to make it and figure out if that's something that is possible. Whether or not they already have a plan in place for what to do with those characters or whether they're open to my kind of vision for what to do with those characters. But it's sort of on me right now to go push them, which I will do as soon as I come up for air."

While this doesn't necessarily mean the project is completely dead, it doesn't sound like Hawley is in much of a rush to pursue the project at the moment, with Marvel Studios possibly hoping to move forward with the characters as soon as possible. However, during last month's San Diego Comic-Con, the Marvel Studios presentation slate for Phase 4 projects didn't include anything about the Fantastic Four, potentially allowing enough time for Hawley to return to pitch the project at some point in the future.

Earlier this year, Hawley reminded fans he was still interested in possibly bringing the project to life.

"What was interesting to me originally about the X-Men universe is these are movies that started in a concentration camp," Hawley shared with The Hollywood Reporter. "They are clearly concerned with the true nature of human evil. It's not just some cosmic force bringing about the end of the world. That's what was always interesting to me here. Let's explore through this genre the every day evils we do to each other, the ways we hurt each other and take each other for granted. There are different stories and characters who will bring about other themes. I wrote a script about Doctor Doom, an antihero story I really like, and we're still talking about making it."

He added, "I'm trying to get out from under this movie I made and this last season of Legion, and Fargo is coming back up… but for better or worse, these are the stories we want to hear right now. I think you can bury your head in the sand and say, 'That's unfortunate for our culture because they're simplistic.' Some people say that. I don't look at it that way. I think they are morality tales on a larger scale, and it's better to be part of the conversation than pretend the conversation isn't happening."

Stay tuned for details on the Fantastic Four's future.

What do you think of Hawley's remarks? Let us know in the comments below!

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