There are films that come with reputations.  If you are a fan of the Marvel Cinematic Universe (MCU), then you know that Fantastic Four (2015) is one of them.  I count myself among the aficionados of these films, though their grip on me is slipping.  Movies like this one is part of the reason.  This is somewhat odd when you consider that until this viewing, I had never seen it.  As already alluded to, I had known about it only by what others said of it.  I cannot remember specifically what I was doing in 2015 that kept me away from the theater at its release, but I believe it had something to do with confusion.  I did not understand why this movie was made, particularly when the folks at Marvel were building to the climax that was Avengers: Endgame (2019) and this latest Fantastic Four had nothing to do with it.  And now there is yet another version of this classic comic book team coming to the big screen in 2025.  This marks three iterations in the span of twenty years, which is remarkable when you consider that it took the MCU a little more than half that time to get through all its so-called “phases” before Avengers: Endgame.  Anyway, nerd rage over.  Time to talk about the 2015 Fantastic Four.

Before the time of the Fantastic Four, the adolescent Reed Richards (Owen Judge) is showing off his giftedness to his class during show-and-tell.  Nobody present, including the teacher, understands his thoughts on his teleportation device, and young Ben Grimm (Evan Hannemann) is the only one who gives Reed any credence.  That night, Ben is asked to investigate why the dogs guarding the Grimm family junkyard are barking.  He discovers Reed digging through the derelict cars looking for parts to complete his teleporter.  The budding scientist offers Ben the chance to see it at work, which it does to the detriment of the electric grid for the entire city.  Seven years pass and Ben and Reed are still best friends, presenting a better version of their teleporter . . . at a school science fair?  Probably unsurprisingly, though their work is once more panned by the school, it attracts the attention of Dr. Franklin Storm (Reg E. Cathey).  He works for the Baxter Foundation, a research institute dedicated to funding the best and brightest among the youth.  Dr. Storm invites Reed to stay there in order to continue working on his invention.  He also does not leave Reed by himself in the teenager’s labors.  Already in the building is Dr. Storm’s adopted daughter, Sue Storm (Kate Mara), but he insists on bringing back a former troubled resident, Victor Von Doom (Toby Kebbell).  To round out the group of underage scientists is Johnny Storm (Michael B. Jordan), Dr. Storm’s biological son, who is getting into trouble by fixing up cars and engaging in illegal street racing.  These four minors collaborate to construct a larger version of the device Reed had built as a child, and one capable of transporting living beings to another dimension.  This successful test is witnessed by Dr. Allen (Tim Blake Nelson), a scientist working for the government, who wants to turn the project over to the National Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA) in order to reap the potential resources for the United States.  When they receive news of this, Victor is the most vocal about his distaste for being usurped by the authorities.  In the face of apparent defeat, he invites Johnny and Reed to share in his flask, which gets them each a little tipsy.  You know what is never a good idea?  Mixing imbibing teens with potentially dangerous science.  Before they can do anything colossally stupid on their own, Reed invites his best friend Ben to go with them since he had been with Reed from the beginning.  These boys safely travel to a planet in another dimension and return with no incident.  Just kidding!  Predictably, everything goes wrong.  Victor’s fascination with the power he feels in the place triggers a chain reaction that ends with him falling into a ribbon of green energy and being left behind.  The other three, in their scramble to make it back to their transport pods, end up getting blasted to varying degrees by the same force before making it to their own dimension.  They take with them some residue power from their previous location, which slams into Sue and knocks her unconscious.  Because of this accident, they are all taken to a secret military base where the government intends to study their new abilities.  These include Reed being able to elastically stretch his body; Sue turning invisible and projecting force fields; Johnny being covered in flames and having flight; and Ben turning into a giant, living rock monster with super strength.  If you are hoping they are given the nicknames by which we all know them, you can forget that part.  They are all horrified by their new conditions, and Reed vows to fix it.  However, he does not trust the authorities and escapes the base.  A year passes and Ben, Johnny, and Sue have stayed at the facility and are learning to hone their skills.  Ben makes the most progress, and he is used by the military as a weapon.  Johnny is eager to contribute, while Sue wants nothing to do with the government’s control.  What Dr. Allen seeks is to return to the other dimension and finally tap what he sees as unlimited resources.  Yet, in order to complete their new machine, they need Reed.  Sue is called upon to predict where he might be, and it somehow works.  The new teleporter is built, but instead of bringing back mineral content, they find an incredibly still alive Victor.  His time in the other dimension, however, has clearly had an effect.  He wants to take out his anger with being left for a year on the Earth . . . but he can only do that from the other dimension?  Anyway, he gets there and starts trying to destroy the Earth.  Ben, Johnny, Reed, and Sue follow, and are able to work together to defeat Victor.  After this, the government gives them the freedom to form their own team, which becomes the eponymous group.

I guess the simplest way to put my feelings about Fantastic Four is: strange.  The rumor is that people on the set thought the script so bizarre that they did not put their full effort into the production.  That is mere speculation, but the end product backs this theory.  At the same time, I do not know if it is as bad as I had been led to believe.  I have seen worse movies.  This could be a case where people see it for the first time, pan it, and then circle back to it and find their initial assessment to be too critical.  Do not get me wrong, it is not winning any awards, but the film does bring up an idea of what I am trying to get at with my Catholic analysis: second chances.  This is why Victor is brought to the Baxter Foundation.  We are not told what he had done to earn the disapproval of others, but Dr. Allen does not like Victor.  When Dr. Allen voices his strong concerns, Dr. Storm reminds his colleague that everyone deserves second chances.  This is what the Bible would tell you, too.  It is full of people being unworthy of God’s mercy but receiving it anyway.  Throughout the Old Testament, God’s chosen people are betraying their covenant, only to have God taken them back after a true act of communal repentance.  The same happens in the New Testament on an individual level.  In Luke 5:8, when Jesus and Peter meet for the first time, Peter says, “Depart from me, Lord, for I am a sinful man.”  In John 8:3-11, you have the story of the woman about to be stoned to death for committing adultery.  Jesus quells the crowds in verse seven with a Christian phrase that I wonder how many know if its origin: “Let the one among you who is without sin be the first to throw a stone at her.”  These are all examples of second chances.  Unfortunately, Victor turns his second opportunity at life into a dogged pursuit of power that ultimately ruins him.

Victor turning bad is a predictable part of Fantastic Four.  What is less predictable is how you will react to it.  If you are a Marvel super fan, you will probably have seen this and panned it.  I have generally the same reaction, though with a positive spin.  Call it glass half full.