An infamous superhero movie flop from 2015 has convinced me that the Marvel Cinematic Universe and DC Universe are both on the right track. 2025 is very important for Marvel, as it is for DC. The latter will see James Gunn’s Superman movie released, kickstarting the new franchise based around DC Comics’ iconic characters.

Meanwhile, the MCU is gearing up for upcoming Marvel movies like Avengers: Doomsday, with the likes of Captain America: Brave New World, Thunderbolts*, and The Fantastic Four: First Steps setting this up. Therefore, 2025 might be the single most important year for both major comic book movie companies in a long time.

Putting that importance aside, I think Marvel and DC will both rise to the challenge. Something that has made this clear to me is a rewatch of a superhero movie box office flop from 2015. Thanks to several elements of that film, I am more confident than ever that Marvel and DC are in good hands going forward.

2015’s Fantastic Four Felt Ashamed Of Being A Superhero Movie

By Failing To Embrace Its Source Material

The movie in question is 2015’s version of Fantastic Four. The movie was a bomb at the box office, earning only $167 million against a $120 million budget, tanking any plans for a franchise. The movie was also critically panned, with one big reason as to why standing out 10 years later: Fantastic Four was afraid to be a superhero movie.

Fantastic Four is certainly a product of its time in the sense that it is an attempt at a gritty, grounded take on the world of superheroes. In trying to create this kind of movie, Fantastic Four loses everything that makes its source material so special.

In many ways, it begins to come across as though the filmmakers were ashamed to embrace the Marvel universe when making Fantastic Four. The story tries to remove several elements from the comic books, even including the superhero names of the тιтular team. The now-infamous final scene in which the four main characters try to come up with a team name is the only time the words “Fantastic Four” are teased throughout, with this extending to the codenames of Reed, Sue, Ben, and Johnny.

The Human Torch and The Thing are the only two hero names mentioned in the film, and both come once more as jokes in the much-memed final scene. Mister Fantastic and Invisible Woman are not named, with Dr. Doom’s name only being dropped as a quippy pun by Sue Storm in the film’s first half.

This all reinforces the idea of the creators of Fantastic Four being ashamed to make the film, well, a Fantastic Four film. Looking back 10 years later, the idea was probably that making something gritty and grounded means removing elements that made the comic book what it was known for, from superhero names to bright, colorful costumes.

2025’s The Fantastic Four: First Steps Is Much More Comfortable As A Comic Book Movie

Marvel Studios Is In A Better Place Than 20th Century Fox Was In 2015

This brings me to the story of The Fantastic Four: First Steps. This is the first attempt at a Fantastic Four movie since 2015’s version failed, critically and commercially. As part of the MCU, The Fantastic Four: First Steps has been shown to embrace its comic book elements in a way 2015’s Fantastic Four did not, with the trailers proving as much.

In the final trailer alone, The Fantastic Four: First Steps embraces more elements of its source material than Fantastic Four ever did, and that is before the former has even been released in theaters. The names Mister Fantastic, Invisible Woman, Human Torch, and The Thing are all used, as is the тιтular group name for all four.

Michael Giacchino’s score blares throughout with orchestral renditions of “Fantastic Four,” as the characters wear their comic book-accurate costumes in combat. Then there are the villains, Galactus and Silver Surfer, each sporting designs almost identical to their counterparts from Marvel Comics. Overall, The Fantastic Four: First Steps is much more comfortable as a comic book movie than 2015’s Fantastic Four was.

The DCU Is Embracing A Fidelity To The Comic Books

Marvel’s Main Compeтιтor Is Fixing Its Own Issues From The Past

On the other side of things, the DCU’s Chapter One: Gods and Monsters seems to be on the right track, much like the MCU is with The Fantastic Four: First Steps. Just as Fantastic Four was a very different, unfaithful adaptation of the Marvel comic books, many would argue that certain movies in the old DCEU timeline did the same for DC Comics.

However, if the actions of DCU head James Gunn and reactions to his first movie, Superman, are anything to go by, it seems as though DC is in good hands, too. Many reactions to Superman praise it as one of the most “comic-booky” comic book movies ever made, with Gunn having outlined runs like All-Star Superman as a direct inspiration for the film. Moreover, prevalent comic book writers like Tom King are directly involved in the creation of the DCU.

Gunn has continued showing reverence for the source material since the DCU was announced, often giving direct mention of the various comic book stories that have inspired him. One could argue the DCEU was in as bad a spot as aspiring franchises like Fantastic Four in 2015. A decade later, though, DC is fully embracing its roots as Marvel Studios is with Marvel Comics, proving both franchises have bright futures ahead.

Why 2015’s Fantastic Four Movie Avoided Its Comic Book Elements

They Opted For A Darker, More Realistic Tone

Finally, it is worth delving a little into why Fantastic Four decided to avoid elements of the source material. As already mentioned, the film is a product of its time in that sense. After the success of Christopher Nolan’s Dark Knight trilogy, there became an obsession with more grounded takes on superheroes that teased a franchise; Fantastic Four was a product of this.

As a result, it became an almost unwatchable superhero movie. Rather than making a fun, enjoyable film, Fantastic Four was too focused on changing elements from the comics in favor of much darker, more “realistic” origin stories. Director Josh Trank’s previous work on the unconventional superhero movie Chronicle may have influenced this.

Whatever it was, Fantastic Four failed where Chronicle did not. A big reason for this was the latter’s status as an original movie, meaning there was nothing to compare it unfavorably to. Fantastic Four evidently had that, typifying why changing the source material so drastically does not always work and reinforcing why the future of Marvel and DC is so promising.