Fantastic Flop: How Josh Trank Tanked the Fantastic Four with Paul Scheer and Amy Nicholson | 82

The Big Flop

Wondery

Society & Culture, Comedy, Business

4.6 • 884 Ratings

🗓️ 7 April 2025

⏱️ 52 minutes

🔗️ Recording | iTunes | RSS

🧾️ Download transcript

Summary

When 27-year-old wunderkind Josh Trank got the keys to Marvel's First Family, he promised a dark, gritty take on the Fantastic Four. But his own origin story—complete with on-set meltdowns, studio battles, and that infamous tweet—proved more compelling than anything that made it to screen. From questionable wigs to near-fistfights, this superhero saga became a cautionary tale about Hollywood hubris that even Mr. Fantastic couldn't stretch his way out of.

The hosts of Unspooled, Amy Nicholson and Paul Scheer (How Did This Get Made) join Misha to binge Josh Trank's F4stic, a movie so bad, it makes you wish you were constantly on fire like the Human Torch just so you could FEEL something.

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Transcript

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0:00.0	Before we dive into today's tale of catastrophe, I have to tell you about Wondery Plus.
0:06.4	If you're someone who craves the juicy details behind the biggest flops, Wondery Plus is
0:12.5	exactly what you need. Add free episodes and early access to new stories that will take you
0:18.7	even deeper into the world of business blunders.
0:22.4	Trust me, it's a game changer.
0:24.7	Join Wondery Plus in the Wondery app or in Apple Podcast.
0:32.1	If I say Fantastic 4 Adaptation, what comes to your mind?
0:40.7	Is it mid-2000s box office gold starring Future Captain America, Chris Evans?
0:47.2	Maybe the Saturday Morning cartoon from the 90s, or perhaps it's the highly anticipated
0:52.6	film coming out this year.
0:55.0	Whatever it is, that's not what we're talking about today.
0:58.9	No, it's the 2015 reboot starring Miles Teller that flopped so hard
1:05.1	some people who worked on it still haven't fully recovered.
1:09.7	Josh Trank, who is currently working on Fantastic Four,
1:12.6	talk about that.
1:13.6	I mean, this is a property that is beloved.
1:15.6	This is a genre that is in a good stead right now.
1:19.6	Everything I've heard from what Trank is doing on the Fantastic Four
1:22.6	is fantastic.
1:23.6	If they just realize we cannot make this work,
1:25.6	then eventually the rights are going
1:27.5	elaps back to Marvel.
	...

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