There has been an incredible amount of negativity surrounding the most recent reboot of ‘Fantastic Four‘ from 20th Century Fox. Not only has it been lampooned by fans and critics alike, the film’s director Josh Trank has put the studio on blast for getting too involved and not allowing his version to shine through. Of course, that whole feud has escalated to include lawyers and such, but it seems like not everyone is looking at this epic failure in such a negative light. Though also distancing himself from the troubled project slightly, the movie’s screenwriter has recently spoken positively about his experience with Marvel’s First Family.
In a series of tweets, screenwriter Jeremy Slater revealed that a large portion of his work was omitted from the final cut of ‘Fantastic Four’. After impressing the studio with his work on ‘The Lazarus Effect’, Slater went on to co-write the latest incarnation of this story with Simon Kinberg. But it seems like his contributions were mostly cut out in the end:
There’s not a ton of my stuff left in the movie (mostly the 1st act), but I’ll always be honored that I got to play in such a cool sandbox.
— Jeremy Slater (@jerslater) August 7, 2015
Rather than delivering more derogatory comments about the movie, Slater continued by talking about how lucky he was that he even got to work with these characters. As a fan that grew up with Mr. Fantastic, the Invisible Woman, the Human Torch, and the Thing, the writer was ecstatic to take on the team and their legendary villain Dr. Doom. While he understands that the efforts of he and his team were largely unsuccessful, Slater was still proud of what they tried to do:
At the end of the day, we tried to do something new and ambitious, something that respected the source material without being beholden to it
— Jeremy Slater (@jerslater) August 7, 2015
Amidst all the hateful comments out there about ‘Fantastic Four,’ it’s refreshing to see someone speak about the film in a positive light for once. Of course, it doesn’t make the movie any better in any way and the idea of it “respecting source material” is debatable, but at least Slater is staying positive and moving on. Some other people involved in the production don’t exactly have that option anymore.
What do you think of screenwriter Jeremy Slater’s comments about his contributions to ‘Fantastic Four’? Are you surprised to see someone say something remotely positive about the massive Marvel train wreck from Fox? Sound off in the comments.
