The superhero genre has been thriving for years now, but there have been some missteps along the way. For instance, fans who spent years watching the Marvel movies in order might recall the ill-fated 2015 Fantastic Four movie (which is streaming with a Disney+ subscription). Miles Teller played Reed Richards in that movie, and he recently got honest about what went wrong and who was responsible.
Before Disney's acquisition of 20th Century Fox, the Fantastic Four were kept separate from the MCU. That's when the 2015 movie came in, featuring a strong cast including Michael B. Jordan and Kate Mara. While appearing on Radio Andy, host Andy Cohen asked Miles Teller if he knew that the movie was bad as he was promoting it. He responded with:
I think it’s unfortunate because so many people worked so hard on that movie. And honestly maybe there was one really important person who kind of fucked it all up. Nobody, especially a young actor at that time it’s like ‘Alright. You know, if you wanna be taken seriously as a leading man you gotta get on this superhero train.’ And that was our chance and the casting I thought was spectacular. I love all those actors.
While some fans think Fantastic Four: First Steps is the team's best movie, the same can't be said for Josh Trank's 2015 version. That title was a box office and critical failure, even winning some Razzies in the process. But it sounds like there was a time when the cast and crew thought that it was actually in good shape. So what happened?
Teller references "one really important person" who was responsible for the theatrical cut of Fantastic Four. While he didn't drop names, director Josh Trank has blamed studio interference for messing with his vision. I have to wonder which exec pushed for the version of the movie that ultimately landed in theaters.
In his conversation with Cohen, Teller jokingly said that things started going downhill when the cast of Fantastic Four appeared on What What Happens Live! (which is streaming with a Peacock subscription). He also mentioned the moment he realized that the infamous superhero flick might be in bad shape, telling Andy:
But yeah when I first saw the movie I remember talking to one of the studio heads and I was like ‘I think we’re in trouble.’
What a bummer. While starring in a superhero movie seemed like a huge opportunity for Teller, it sounds like he realized that the Fantastic Four's theatrical cut wasn't up to snuff. But he still had to keep promoting the movie ahead its release, which must have been a challenging part of the job.
The Fantastic Four is streaming on Disney+, and First Steps also arrived in theaters as part of the 2025 movie release list. As for Miles Teller, his new movie Eternity hits theaters November 26th.
