Michael Chiklis Defends His FANTASTIC FOUR Films: “A Lot of [Critics] Got It Wrong”
The mid-2000s Fantastic Four movies have had their fair share of haters, but Michael Chiklis still stands proudly by them. The actor, who played Ben Grimm a.k.a. The Thing in 2005’s Fantastic Four and its 2007 sequel, Fantastic Four: Rise of the Silver Surfer, believes the critics missed the mark when it came to those movies.
While both films were moderate box office hits, they’ve long carried the reputation of being disappointing adaptations. Now, with Marvel Studios’ The Fantastic Four: First Steps sparking fresh interest, younger fans are discovering (and in some cases, defending) the earlier takes.
Talking to Collider, Chiklis looked back on his time with the franchise and pushed back against the negativity.
“There were a lot of people, I think, critically who got it wrong. They really maligned our films, and they were very underrated considering they were very loved by the audience.”
He went on to say:
“It was one of those cases where critics weren’t great to those films, but the audience was, and that still remains. I’ve always sort of quietly gone like, ‘Okay, say what you want to say, but the people see it.’
“And now all these years later, people are sort of acknowledging like, hey, these films are family-friendly, fun movies, they got a lot right. They may be imperfect, but they’re really good movies.”
Chiklis isn’t wrong about the divide. Fantastic Four holds a 28% score on Rotten Tomatoes, with Rise of the Silver Surfer at 37%. Still, both movies pulled in solid numbers at the box office.
“We made three quarters of $1 billion, those two movies. So, you know, all those people can’t be completely out of their minds, you know what I mean?”
Together, the two films grossed $635.4 million worldwide. Even so, 20th Century Fox never moved forward with a third installment. Instead, the team was benched until 2015’s disastrous Fantastic Four reboot, which scraped together just $167.9 million.
Recently, Ioan Gruffudd, who played Mister Fantastic, reflected on that missed third chapter.
“The mindset was that we were going to do three, and I think the second movie was equally successful as the first and equally enjoyable for the fans.
“I particularly loved working with Doug Jones [as the Silver Surfer] on that movie, who’s just a terrific artist and an expert in the field of movement.”
Gruffudd added:
“If you want to witness somebody bringing a character to life physically, he’s just untouchable. So there was definitely that sort of momentum, and the plan was to do three movies, but these decisions are beyond my control.”
It’s been almost two decades since the original Fantastic Four hit theaters, and while the MCU’s reboot delivers a fresh take, Chiklis’ defense of the earlier films proves there’s still a place in fans’ hearts for their family-friendly, slightly cheesy superhero adventures.
I actually rewatched the first Fantastic Four (2005) movie for the first time in years, and it was better than I remembered!