Can John Krasinski Save the Fantastic Four Film Franchise?

You have to strike when the iron is hot and right now, Hollywood is hot for John Krasinski is hot. He’s done a few interviews recently and has made it perfectly clear that he’s interested in a certain superhero property. 

Let’s hope Marvel is paying attention.

First, let’s back up and remind ourselves that the most recent Fantastic Four reboot bombed massively with a soft $25.6 million on opening weekend. It was trashed by critics and fans alike.

Fox had long wanted to turn the Fantastic Four into a strong franchise but their last effort had a production cost of $120 million with additional more in millions in marketing costs. You can only invest so much money into a losing effort. “This turned into a nightmare for Fox,” said Jeff Bock at the time, an analyst with Exhibitor Relations. “Everything that could go wrong went wrong and the whole thing fell apart.”

Still, the Fantastic Four is a property that has tons of potential and now that it’s back at Marvel, it’s just a matter of time before we (hopefully) get a proper movie that does the comic book justice. Marvel has a proven track record with its properties and we can assume have some sort of plan to introduce the X-Men and FF into their cinematic universe.
Which brings us to John.

“I was just about to walk into the worst pun ever, but I was like, that’s a fantastic role. That would be awesome,” Krasinski said in an interview with Esquire. “Marvel wrote the playbook on secrecy and awesome sort of tantalizing lay and wait until everything’s announced. I am not committed to the role or anything, but I don’t know when they’re doing it. But if and when they do it, I would love to talk to them about it.”

Want more? “I would love to be in the Marvel universe,” he told Total Film. “I love those movies because they’re fun, but I also think they’re really well done. And certainly a lot of my friends are in those movies. I have no idea what [Marvel] are thinking. But if they are considering me for Mr. Fantastic, continue to consider me because I would love it.”

Funny enough, this would be Krasinski’s second chance at a Marvel role after putting a bid in on Captain America. “People have a sense that some of us are insanely competitive. I’ve known Chris forever,” he said. “So as soon as they said Chris Evans got the part, I was like, yeah, look at that guy. Are you kidding me? He is Captain America. And I just saw Chris a couple of weeks ago and we were still laughing about it. I said, ‘I love that you retired in my role.’”  

John would be a great Mister Fantastic. He’s got the look and the acting chops to bring the role to life in a way that hasn’t been done in the movies before. He’s got a charisma that would make it work and be able to hold his own on screen with the other elements in the Marvel Cinematic Universe. 

The Fantastic Four isn’t a tough concept. The source material was launched in 1961, created by Stan Lee and artist Jack Kirby as an answer to DC’s Justice League. Unlike most other superhero teams, the Fantastic Four were a family unit consisting of brilliant inventor Reed Richards, his girlfriend Sue Storm, her hot-head brother Johnny, and Reed’s college roommate and best friend, Ben Grimm. In the original origin story, a trip into space and an encounter with cosmic rays gave Reed, Sue, Ben and Johnny superhuman abilities. In later tellings like the Ultimate Fantastic Four of the 2000s, the four (and nemesis Doctor Doom) gain their powers in a much different way.

This is an easy doable project and with John attached, it could excite both hardcore fans and general audiences. 
What are your thoughts?