Talk of The Fantastic Four 2 may be premature. Sure, 20th Century Fox has slapped the sequel with a summer 2017 release date, but the first installment of this Fantastic Four franchise reboot hasn't even opened yet. It could be a massive disappointment for fans and the studio alike. And if that's the case, a follow-up may fly into the dustbins of history. Heck, the property could revert back to Marvel Studios and Disney, just like Fox's Daredevil, which became a very popular Netflix series once it was out of their hands. Still, that hasn't stopped the cast from expressing their concerns and desires for their return to this world. And they certainly have some ideas on how it should go.
Fantastic Four opens this Friday, and will certainly get an extra added push at the box office by having the first Deadpool trailer attached to it. The film features Doom as its main villain, probably the most iconic bad guy Fantastic Four has ever faced. It will also set up Tim Blake Nelson as The Mole Man, but it isn't known whether or not that full transformation will happen in the movie, with the actor already committed to appearing in future installments. Mole Man may very well be the main villain in The Fantastic Four 2. But there is the potential to bring in other infamous Marvel foes. Star Jamie Bell doesn't think that's what should be focused on, though. He wants to see more of the classic dynamic between the superhero characters, which was always a main pull for the book's fans.
"I'd like to see more of how the characters interact with each other famously from the comic. It would be appealing to me. This one very much is to get them to that point, to take them from people you don't know, to transition into characters you can recognize. The job of the next film is taking it further and having the characters already established, seeing them interact in the very famous kind of way. Things between me and Johnny get very antagonistic. More of a blossoming love story between Reed and Sue. More of a family dynamic. Stuff like that would be great. There's a wealth of material and with a 90 minute run time of an origin story it's very difficult to fit it all in."
Jamie Bell, who plays The Thing, also recognizes that the sequel needs to be bigger and better than the first. And there is simply one iconic Marvel figure that the franchise can't lose. Even though he's already been seen in Fantastic Four: Rise of the Silver Surfer.
"You can't get away from Silver Surfer. I know chronologically speaking that was the next villain in the previous franchise but I think Silver Surfer is cool looking."
Since Fantastic Four: Rise of the Silver Surfer didn't fare well with critics or fans when it was released in 2007, its reasonable that Fox would want to go in a different direction with this next sequel. There is a rumor that X-Men: Apocalypse director Bryan Singer will come in to helm this follow-up, setting it up as a crossover with the X-Men franchise. The director himself even teased that this is indeed a possibility. And that one or more X-Men might even appear in the sequel. Star Michael B. Jordan, who plays Johnny Storm (aka The Human Torch) has another idea about which hero he'd like to see in The Fantastic Four 2. Though, it probably will never happen.
"Namor is a cool one. By far, he's the strongest mutant. You know what I'm saying? Maybe not by far, but he's the strongest mutant. It would be a pretty interesting battle, the Fantastic Four vs. Namor."
At the moment, it will be impossible for Namor to make an appearance in The Fantastic Four 2. Universal Studios currently owns the rights. And they have been trying to attempt their own franchise with the character. Still, it's not beyond the realm of possibility for Fox and Universal to team up and share the character. He needs to get dusted off soon before rights revert back to Marvel. What do you think? Are Namor and Silver Surfer two characters you want to see in The Fantastic Four 2?