Marvel Comics is apparently upset that 20th Century Fox is making a Fantastic Four movie. So upset that in an new issue of The Punisher, three characters who look suspiciosuly like three of the actors in the upcoming movie get blown up. The film will star Miles Teller, Jamie Bell, Kate Mara, and Michael B. Jordan, and is to be directed by Josh Trank. In the comic, three actors bearing a strong resemblance to Teller, Bell and Mara are discussing their new movie, directed by someone named “Trang” and dissing someone named “Mike.” The Jamie Bell-looking one is wearing a Fantastic Four t-shirt. Then the three are killed in a giant explosion.
This is possibly all in good fun: the fanboy equivalent of trash-talking. Or possibly not. Marvel just canceled its Fantastic Fourcomic, and some think that decision was made just to spite Fox. The chairman of Fox, Jim Gianapulos, however, thinks the comic was canceled simply because it wasn’t a big seller. If all this is confusing, you should know that although Fantastic Four is a Marvel property, the movie rights are owned by Fox; meaning that there is no chance that the foursome could ever pop up, say, in an Avengers movie. Fox produced a Fantastic Four film several years ago, starring Ioan Gruffudd, Jessica Alba, Michael Chiklis, and Chris Evans. Evans, of course, is now another Marvel superhero: Captain America.
