A contemporary re-imagining of Marvel's original and longest-running superhero team, this film centers on four young outsiders who teleport to an alternate and dangerous universe known as Planet Zero, which alters their physical form in shocking ways. Their lives irrevocably upended, the team must learn to harness their daunting new abilities and work together to save Earth from a former friend turned enemy who is hell-bent on destroying it.
Information |
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Language |
English |
Country |
United States |
Premiere date |
August 7, 2015 |
Running time |
100 minutes |
Genre |
Action Adventure Sci-Fi |
Budget |
$120,000,000 |
Box Office |
$167,882,881 |
Crew |
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Directed by |
Josh Trank |
Produced by |
Simon Kinberg Matthew Vaughn Hutch Parker Robert Kulzer Gregory Goodman |
Written by |
Jeremy Slater Simon Kinberg Josh Trank |
Music by |
Marco Beltrami Philip Glass |
Cinematography |
Matthew Jensen |
Edited by |
Elliot Greenberg Stephen E. Rivkin |
Production Co. |
20th Century Fox Marvel Entertainment Marv Films Constantin Film |
Distributed by |
20th Century Fox |
Top Cast |
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Official Trailer |
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Movie Collection |
Movie Order: #03 in Fantastic Four Collection
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The Plot
Origins of the Quantum Gate
From a young age, Reed Richards and his best friend Ben Grimm work tirelessly in a garage on a prototype teleporter, a device Reed has dreamed of since childhood. Years later, their success at a high school science fair attracts the attention of Professor Franklin Storm, the director of the Baxter Foundation, a government-sponsored research institute dedicated to cultivating young prodigies. Impressed by Reed’s breakthrough, Storm recruits him to join the foundation’s elite team.
At the Baxter Foundation, Reed is introduced to Storm's children: Sue Storm, a brilliant scientist capable of pattern recognition, and Johnny Storm, a rebellious technician with a knack for engineering. To complete the project, they require the assistance of Storm’s wayward protégé, Victor von Doom. Victor, a brilliant but temperamental programmer, initially refuses but begrudgingly agrees to help, largely motivated by his unrequited feelings for Sue. Together, the team successfully constructs the "Quantum Gate," a device capable of transporting matter to a parallel dimension.
The Unauthorized Voyage
The first full-scale experiment is a success, sending a primate to the other dimension and retrieving it. However, the facility's supervisor, Dr. Allen, informs the team that they will not be the ones to cross the threshold; instead, a group of NASA astronauts will be assembled to venture into the parallel dimension known as "Planet Zero." Disappointed at being denied the chance to make history with the machine they built, Reed, Johnny, and Victor share a bottle of alcohol that night. In their intoxicated state, they decide to embark on an unsanctioned voyage to Planet Zero to plant their flag before the government steps in.
Knowing they need a pilot, Reed calls Ben Grimm, who joins them at the facility. With Sue staying behind at the control command to cover for them and monitor the telemetry, the four young men launch the Quantum Gate and teleport to the mysterious world. Upon arrival, they discover a desolate landscape filled with otherworldly energy and strange substances.
Disaster on Planet Zero
While exploring the alien terrain, the group encounters a glowing, green energy source. Victor, driven by arrogance and curiosity, attempts to collect a sample of the unstable substance. His interference causes the ground to erupt with a green, lava-like energy, triggering a catastrophic collapse of the surrounding structure. As the ground gives way, Victor is swallowed by the collapsing landscape and the green substance; he is left behind and presumed dead.
Reed, Johnny, and Ben sprint back to their shuttle in a panic. As they initiate the launch sequence, they contact Sue back on Earth to bring them home immediately. The inter-dimensional return is chaotic. Ben is unable to seal his pod door and is mercilessly pummeled by rock debris that floods the chamber. Johnny’s containment unit malfunctions, causing him to be engulfed in flames. As Sue forcibly drags the shuttle back through the dimensional rift, the Quantum Gate explodes upon their re-entry.
The explosion lashes out with a wave of energy that strikes Sue. Reed, crawling from the wreckage, witnesses the horror of his friends' transformations: Johnny is burning alive but surviving, and Ben is buried under rubble, screaming for help. Reed attempts to crawl toward them but passes out as he sees his own leg stretching unnaturally. The machine's failure alters Reed, Sue, Johnny, and Ben on a molecular-genetic level, granting them superhuman conditions and abilities they cannot control.
Fugitive and Weapon
Following the accident, the four survivors are placed in strict government custody at a secret facility known as Area 57. They are confined, studied, and subjected to tests to understand their new abilities. Ben has been transformed into a massive creature made of rock; Johnny can turn his body into plasma; Sue can become invisible and generate force fields; and Reed possesses extreme elasticity. Overwhelmed by guilt and blaming himself for the fate of his friends, Reed escapes the facility, becoming a fugitive. He spends the next year desperately trying to build a cure in hiding, while the military manipulates the others—specifically Ben—into becoming assets for warfare.
The Reunion
One year later, the military locates Reed hiding in South America. He is tracked down by Sue and ultimately confronted by Ben, who has become a hardened military operative. On the transport plane back to the US, Reed attempts to apologize for leaving, but Ben is deeply resentful. He tells Reed that his abandonment makes him worse than the accident itself and declares that they are no longer friends.
Back at Area 57, Reed is reunited with Johnny, who, along with Sue, has been outfitted with specialized containment suits designed to help stabilize and control their volatile powers. Reed is given a similar suit. Dr. Allen offers Reed a deal: if he helps reopen the portal to Planet Zero to harness its resources, the government will provide him with the technology needed to cure them all. Reed agrees, working to rebuild the Quantum Gate.
Doom's Rampage
The second Quantum Gate is successfully activated. Dr. Allen sends a team of explorers to Planet Zero, where they discover Victor von Doom. He has survived but has been fused to his spacesuit and ravaged by the planet's energy. Now possessing immense telekinetic power and control over the elements, Victor is brought back to Earth in a comatose state.
When Victor awakens, he is revealed to have been driven insane by his isolation and exposure to the alien world. He believes the human race must be destroyed so he can rebuild Earth in his own image as a new Planet Zero. He initiates a deadly rampage through the facility, effortlessly killing Dr. Allen and slaughtering scientists and soldiers who attempt to stop him. Professor Franklin Storm confronts his former student, pleading with him to see reason, but Victor ruthlessly kills him. Victor then re-enters the Quantum Gate, returning to Planet Zero to execute his final plan.
The Final Stand
On Planet Zero, Victor activates a massive structure he constructed during his exile. The device creates a portal that begins to consume the landscape of Earth, sucking matter into the other dimension to fuel his new world. Reed, Sue, Johnny, and Ben use the Quantum Gate to pursue him. Upon arrival, they confront Victor, who mocks them and easily overpowers them one by one using his mastery over the environment.
Realizing they cannot defeat him individually, Reed rallies the group to attack as a coordinated unit. Sue uses her force fields to protect the team, Johnny unleashes his fiery power to distract Victor, and Reed uses his elasticity to restrain him. In the final moments of the showdown, Ben uses his immense strength to punch Victor directly into the portal's raw energy beam. Victor disintegrates instantly, and Johnny flies into the core to close the portal from the inside, stopping Earth's destruction.
The Fantastic Four
Having saved the world, the group returns to Earth. In recognition of their heroics, the United States military rewards them with a new, massive base of operations to conduct their research and manage their abilities. No longer prisoners or experiments, they decide to use their powers to help humanity. As they overlook their new headquarters, they adopt the mantle of a team, referring to themselves as the "Fantastic Four."
