After the first trailer's release last month, it became immediately clear that the Fantastic Four reboot was going to be much different than the first two films, especially since this new version is inspired by the early works of David Cronenberg, such as Scanners and The Fly. During a new interview with Empire, director Josh Trank say he wanted to stay away from the tone of the first two Fantastic Four movies, which he thought were too "cartoonish," adding that he is steering this reboot in a darker direction, as opposed to the comic books.

"The original two films to me are very similar to a lot of recent movies that have come out, in terms of that kind of cartoonish. It's just not something that me and Simon (Kinberg) are interested in as storytellers. There's the opportunity to make something that is challenging and tragic and dramatic. The opportunity is right there in the material. We'd rather steer it in that direction as opposed to just embracing a tone that comes right off the page."

The director also spoke about his decision to cast African-American actor Michael B. Jordan as Johnny Storm (aka The Human Torch), changing the character's race from the original comic books. The filmmaker said that his roots in a mixed family are what inspired the decision.

"I have mixed family. When I go home for Christmas, you'll see white people and black people. That's normal to me. I wanted a Storm family that represented 21st century families."

As for Johnny's sister Sue Storm (aka Invisible Woman), played by Kate Mara, the director said that this version of Sue is incredibly smart and has integrity.

"There have always been two categories of Sue - the slutty secretary version, and this brilliant scientist version. This is a really, really smart Sue, and one that is dignified and has integrity."

The last member of the Fantastic Four is Ben Grimm, played by Jamie Bell, who seems to be portrayed much closer to the comic books than the rest of this foursome. Here's what Josh Trank had to say about why Jamie Bell was the right man for the job.

"Ben is supposed to be a smaller guy in terms of height. That idea of Ben being Reeds best friend in the archetypical way, you want that character to have warmth and strength, qualities Jamie has."

Josh Trank also confirmed that Thing breaks out of a "transformation cocoon," which was spotted briefly in the first trailer. From that point on, The Thing is portrayed almost entirely with motion capture effects. The director also teased that there will be plenty of surprises in store for the audience.

"There are surprisises for everybody in the movie. We've had time to figure out every single iconic and subtle aspect of the Fantastic Four, and how it can organically belong to this film."