Fantastic Four Sequel: What We Want To See

This weekend, 20th Century Fox released Josh Trank’s Fantastic Four reboot. Perhaps getting ahead of themselves, the studio actually planned a Fantastic Four sequel for the summer of 2017 months before this weekend’s feature. And while poor box office returns and reviews have stunted this first installment, the sequel is still on track.

The Negative Zone

  

Speaking of Annihilus, let’s tick him off and visit his home land, the Negative Zone. While we think that the Fantastic Four gained their powers in the Negative Zone, it’s never outright stated. They also didn’t reverse their molecular polarity for their visit, but that could just be another detail lost in Trank’s translation from comic to movie. But if the dimension or planet the team traveled to in Fantastic Four isn’t the Negative Zone, it can be properly introduced in the sequel. Now that the cast is fully assembled and ready to go, the realm has a ton of potential to explore

X-Men’s Presence

  

An X-Men and Fantastic Four crossover is entirely unnecessary, and recently deemed unlikely when producers said the two groups don’t exist in the same universe. However, if 20th Century Fox is ever going to crossover these two properties, they better commit to it, now. That’s not to say Wolverine needs to stroll into Central City to say, “Hey, bub,” but a reference or acknowledgment to the two groups’ co-existence would be a good first step.

More Reed & Sue

  

Reed and Sue were introduced to one another for the first time in Fantastic Four, but the movies never truly explored their connection. In the sequel, we should see their romance seriously develop. We’re not saying that they need to rush into marriage or have little Valeria running around, but their romance can provide an interesting focal point for the sequel. Plus, the banter and reaction it will elicit from Johnny’s would certainly be hilarious.

Evil, Compelling Villains

  

One of the biggest problems with Trank’s Fantastic Four was the lack of compelling villainy. Look at the acclaimed comic book movies in recent years: The Dark Knight, The Avengers, The Dark Knight Rises, and Captain America: The Winter Soldier. What do all of those movies have in common? A compelling villain. The Joker, Loki, Bane, and Winter Soldier are all pop culture icons because of their portrayal in their respective films. Good villains help a story progress while having at least a somewhat sensible cause. In 2015’s Fantastic Four, the villain was just a jerk who got left behind and suddenly wanted to destroy the entire world.

Silver Surfer and Galactus were both used in the previous Fantastic Four effort from Fox, but let’s not rule them out as villains. Seeing Galactus portrayed properly could be a blast and a huge step in the right direction for the franchise (hint: just don’t make him a big, purple cloud). Jamie Bell told us he’d love to see the Silver Surfer as the sequel’s antagonist. Molecule Man could also easily fit into the sci-fi grounded tone created in this first movie. But if we’re really being honest, the Skrulls and Annilihus are the baddies that we really want to see.

Bonus: Namor

  

Because Hollywood can never have enough abs. 

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Fantastic Four is now playing in theaters and Fantastic Four 2 is set to be released in June 2017. For a complete list of upcoming comic book movies and their release dates, check out ComicBook.com’s Comic Book Movie Database.