Even before Marvel Studios retook ownership of the Fantastic Four and got a new movie into production, there was always a bit of fondness for the old Fox movies. Not so much the 2015 one, but the mid-2000s pair directed by Tim Story and starring Ioan Gruffudd, Jessica Alba, Chris Evans, and Michael Chiklis still have their fans. Those films were general audiences’ first introduction to the characters, and there remains a bit of attachment to those versions, particularly after Evans came back for brief, fiery thirds in Deadpool & Wolverine.
In a recent Vulture interview, Gruffudd talked about still having “pure excitement” over booking the role of Reed Richards. He didn’t grow up reading the comics, but he felt a duty to portray Reed as “naïve” about his powers at first, but still “honorable and noble, and clearly a bookish character who was passionate about science and wanted to do good for the world.”
“There was a great belief that we needed to represent that friendship, camaraderie, bickering,” Gruffudd added about the dynamic with his costars. And we had that innately as actors when we got together. We all had our own responsibility, but then an understanding that this was a team, this was the Fantastic Four — we are one.” Speaking to the late Julian McMahon playing his rival Doctor Doom, he remembered his former costar as “such a big part of this franchise and the success of the movies. You saw the envy and jealousy that Reed had towards Victor, and that there had been a friendship, so that sense of betrayal and devastation was an interesting aspect to play. […] You remember great performances from movies of this nature, like Gene Hackman in the original Superman, and that’s the kind of flair and panache that Julian brought to this.”
In Gruffudd’s recollection, Story and everyone else were staying true to the “lighter, family feel” of the Fantastic Four comics at the time, and he figured Fox’s previous track record with the X-Men inherently meant the this would blossom into a franchise. The series ended with 2007’s Rise of the Silver Surfer, though there were plans for a third movie that were later scrapped despite “some sort of momentum.” These days, it wouldn’t be out of the question for him to come back, but he says he’s not been asked about it stretching one more time for Avengers: Doomsday or Secret Wars.
But even if that never happens, he remains “incredibly proud” of playing the character and getting to be “part of something really beautiful and much bigger than you. And I’m excited that the comic and franchise lives on.”
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