A while back, Gazillion Games was forced to remove the Fantastic Four (Thing, Mr. Fantastic, Invisible Woman, and Human Torch) as well as The Silver Surfer from Marvel Heroes Online. We say forced, because frankly, that’s what happened. Read on for our brief synopsis of what’s shaking down between Marvel and 20th Century Fox, and why we hope this means good things eventually for Reed Richards, Silver Surfer, and the rest.
If you like comic movies, and most of us here have probably been watching since before Tim Burton’s Batman in ’89, chances are you’ve been dying for The Fantastic Four to join the hugely successful Marvel Universe. Chances are you’ve watched and labored through the first two movies (ironically starring Captain America himself, Chris Evans), and maybe you even saw the 2015 reboot that many fans hoped would push the series out of the basement.
It did not. 2015’s Fantastic Four was almost universally panned, and really – it deserved every bit of the response. It’s just not where the foursome should have gone, and Doctor Doom has never been less Doom. Even the Nip-Tuck guy did better, and I love Toby Kebbell. Watch him in Gold, A Monster Calls, or even as Durotan in Warcraft, and try not to love him.
But anyway, Marvel Studios is still not in charge of Fantastic Four as a movie or TV property, and though Kevin Feige has said otherwise, we’re pretty sure that things are starting to get heated between The House of Mouse and Fox. Marvel’s comic line has already killed off the Fantastic Four comic, and with the Gazillion Games pull from Marvel Heroes Omega, we’re pretty sure it’ll be some time before the FF are seen in a game.
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Now, that said – San Diego Comic Con is almost upon us. It’s the time for big announcements. Fox wants to make ANOTHER Fantastic Four movie, and they want it to stay closer to the source material. Logan was a certified win for Fox, as was Deadpool, and the last three X-Men movies have proven to do well (despite Apocalypse’s shortcomings, I still liked it). It’s not that Fox can’t do these movies right, it’s that the FF movies they keep making seem to be veering way off course. And when that happens, critics, fans, and general moviegoers wind up responding by not liking the movie. Go figure, eh?
So, with the FF and Silver Surfer gone from Marvel Heroes Omega, could it be that Fox is setting up to re-launch a new movie (or show?) at SDCC? It wouldn’t surprise me if they pulled a Mea Culpa, and also tied them somehow into the X-Men universe, which Marvel has cut out of their own Cinematic Universe. Perhaps Fox is destined to make it work that way, and by not letting Marvel Studios in on either of them, they’re putting their foot down on licensing Fantastic Four.
So, where does that leave us? As fans of the game, we’re left suffering. Most didn’t get a good heads up about the withdrawal of the FF and SS from Marvel Heroes, and some are hoping that Gazillion is soon allowed to sell them or give them away to fans as an apology. I’d be all for that. But what I’m more all for? I just want Marvel and Fox to come to an agreement so we one day see the X-Men, Fantastic Four, and rest of the MCU crossover like it always should have.
