Bob Iger, Disney’s head honcho, recently said, “Yeah, we’ve got big plans for Fantastic Four.”
That should not surprise anyone. Marvel has been working for years to get this one right. The studio announced the project in 2019, kept refining it, and treated it with more attention than most recent MCU releases. These characters are part of Marvel’s next big chapter and will have a major role in the upcoming Avengers movie.
The extra effort makes sense. Marvel wanted a film fans would enjoy and one that could set up bigger things ahead.
The Reception: Loved by Fans, Lukewarm Box Office
The box office numbers came in below Disney’s highest hopes, although audience feedback has been positive. This is a movie that succeeded in winning over most viewers but fell short of creating massive ticket sales.
Enter Jeff Sneider and the “Inside Scoop”
Industry insider Jeff Sneider, who has a history of accurate reports and the occasional strange tweet, claimed Disney expects Fantastic Four sequels to perform better after the team appears in Avengers: Doomsday.
That sounds like a revelation, but it is really stating the obvious. The entire MCU playbook supports the idea.
In Phase One, Iron Man, Captain America, and Thor all had decent starts. After they came together in Avengers, each of their sequels jumped in box office performance. Thor: The Dark World improved on the original despite its poor reception. The Winter Soldier became a breakout hit. Civil War pushed even higher, though that one functioned more like an Avengers story than a solo outing.
This is the “Avengers bump,” and it has been boosting Marvel characters for over a decade.
The Captain Marvel Example
The release of Captain Marvel is a perfect case study. It premiered only six weeks before Avengers: Endgame and featured in the marketing for that blockbuster. The result was a billion-dollar global haul. The timing and cross-promotion made all the difference.
So the idea that Fantastic Four will earn more after an Avengers appearance is not a bold prediction. Just history repeating itself.
Is a Sequel Happening?
The odds of a sequel are very high.
Some commentators have called the box office performance “disappointing.” That label is relative. Fantastic Four is performing far better than Thunderbolts and even opened stronger than the most recent Captain America: Brave New World.
The second weekend drop caused concern. The film started strong but lacked staying power, which is surprising given its positive audience scores. Meanwhile, the latest Superman film had similar ratings yet managed to hold better week-to-week.
Even so, Fantastic Four has earned more than $400 million worldwide in two weeks. On a $200 million budget, this is a profitable run. Disney wanted more, but the numbers are nowhere near failure territory.
Context Matters
Every MCU film this year has underperformed compared to past phases. Two releases earned praise, one did not, and all suffered from reduced audience excitement for the brand. That loss of momentum is as much a problem as the individual box office numbers.
Fantastic Four has already earned twice what The Marvels brought in during its entire theatrical run, and it still has weeks to go. It could easily add another $100 million before leaving theaters.
These numbers would never justify canceling a sequel. With an Avengers appearance on the way, the potential for a major rebound is clear.
Fantastic Four may not be the runaway hit Disney hoped for, but it has a solid foundation to build on. The upcoming Avengers boost could turn the next film into a major event, just as it did for other Marvel heroes in the past. History suggests that the sequel will not only outperform the first film but also benefit from renewed audience interest in the MCU.
Daniel fell in love with movies at the ripe old age of four, thanks to a towering chest of drawers filled with VHS tapes. Which, let’s face it, was the original Netflix binge-watch. Ever since then, this lifelong movie buff has been on a relentless quest for cinematic greatness, particularly obsessed with sci-fi, drama, and action flicks. With heroes like Nolan, Villeneuve, and Fincher guiding the way, and a special soft spot for franchises where aliens, androids, and unstoppable cyborgs duke it out (think Terminator, Predator, Alien, and Blade Runner), Daniel continues to live life one epic movie marathon at a time.