2015's Fantastic Four remake wasn't a career highlight for director Josh Trank, and he knows it.
The superhero film didn't get the high praise that has been constantly doled out to the recent spate of Marvel smashes like The Avengers, Black Panther, Dr. Strange, and Guardians of the Galaxy.
Those successes, among many others from Disney's distribution era of Marvel Cinematic Universe films (2012-present), have been untouchable, and famed music video director Joseph Kahn commented on their apparent invincibility.
Kahn, who's worked with pop icons like Britney Spears, Dr. Dre, Lady Gaga and 50 Cent, boldly tweeted:
"No superhero movie fails."
Generally, his outlook on the genre is uplifting.
However, the very self-aware Fantastic Four director humorously owned up to his weakest endeavor.
Trank was tapped to direct Fantastic Four after his impressive turn harnessing the superhero genre with 2012's Chronicle starring Michael B. Jordan and Dane De Haan.
But Fantastic Four, starring Miles Teller (Mr. Fantastic), Michael B. Jordan (Human Torch), Kate Nara (Invisible Girl), and Jamie Bell (The Thing), lumbered along earning a disappointing $56 million in domestic box office sales. The movie was torn to shreds with negative reviews from both critics and audiences – including movie review aggregator Rotten Tomatoes offering this consensus:
"Marred by goofy attempts at wit, subpar acting, and bland storytelling, Fantastic Four is a mediocre attempt to bring Marvel's oldest hero team to the big screen."
Moviegoers laughed along with the good sport.
Trank's wit proves his capabilities were always there, and fans even consoled him by pointing out that the first half of the beleaguered movie was still pretty good.
One user still preferred Trank's movie over another flop that even Ryan Reynolds couldn't save.
20th Century Fox may have been partly to blame, as the studio was desperately hanging on to their license of Marvel characters at the time.
Trank slammed his movie on the eve of its premiere in a now-deleted tweet.
"A year ago I had a fantastic version of this. And it would've received fantastic reviews. You'll probably never see it. That's the reality though."
There's too much trolling on the internet, but Trank's self-effacing tweet is fantastic, indeed.
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