Since they first debuted in 1961, Marvel’s Fantastic Four have been one of the publisher’s most popular team of characters. Unfortunately, that fan adoration hasn’t been able to translate to cinema success. While The Avengers and X-Men have continued to make it big at the box office, the First Family has seen their multiple adaptations fail in one way or another. Fox’s most recent attempt at a reboot was one of the worst received comic book movies of all-time, despite it having its share of fans. Still, the public failure, including behind-the-scenes drama with director Josh Trank, has thrown the future of the franchise into question.

Fans are still holding out hope, however, that the rights to the characters may revert back to Marvel. Doctor Strange director Scott Derrickson has expressed his desire for the Fantastic Four to join the MCU, but it’s still unclear whether Fox and producer Simon Kinberg plan on taking another go at the franchise. Recent comments from Kinberg seem to indicate it’s not on the slate at the moment, especially with so much focus on Deadpool 2, X-Men: Supernova, and New Mutants.

That hasn’t stopped speculation, though. Hey U Guys grabbed a few words with Toby Kebbell, the actor who played Doctor Doom in 2015’s Fantastic Four, while at the European premiere for Kong: Skull Island. Kebbel will be playing a character named Chapman in the film, but also did the mo-cap for Kong himself. This after previously playing the ape Koba in Dawn of the Planet of the Apes. The interview moved from Kong to Kebbell skipping Matt Reeves’ War for the Planet of the Apes, to Reeves recently taking over on The Batman. As soon as the interviewer brought up the possibility of a Fantastic Four sequel, however, Kebbell cracked a smile and answered before the question was even asked.

Considering how poorly the film was received and how thankless Kebbell’s version of Doom was, it’s no surprise the actor isn’t keen on reprising the role. Still, it’s not animosity towards the character that’s keeping him away. Rather, he has a problem with Fox’s approach.

“I won’t be in it!”

Kebbell went on to mix up Namor the Sub-Mariner with Aquaman and Captain Nemo, but his overall point seemed to be that Doom needed to face more formidable foes. While most fans would likely agree that the Doom seen on screen has never matched the power or intelligence of the Doom from Marvel Comics, his logic is a bit flawed. He seems to forget Doom is intrinsically tied to the Fantastic Four, and they’re hardly milquetoast adversaries. Thing goes toe-to-toe with the Hulk, Reed is one of the smartest men on the planet, Torch is basically a living sun, and Sue’s powers make her one of the most powerful heroes in the Marvel universe.

“Listen, Doom is an incredible bad guy, they just keep trying to force him into the Fantastic Four, you know? They just need to move it out, cus he smashes up Thor and Iron Man, all them. They get wasted.”

The interview finishes with the idea that Kebbell would be more keen to play Doom if Marvel owned the rights, something mirrored by Hugh Jackman who said he’d continue as Wolverine if he could mix it up with the Avengers. Sadly, Kevin Feige recently shot down the idea that Fox and Marvel could come to some sort of deal like the one that happened with Spider-Man. For now, fans will just have to hope that Fox let their rights lapse or simply sell them back to Marvel. Even still, the Fantastic Four are unlikely to join the MCU anytime soon.

Source: Hey U Guys

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