FX series "Legion" creator and director Noah Hawley is looking to give new life to the "Fantastic Four" franchise by developing a new movie based on the team's archvillain, Doctor Doom.
The news came at the tail end of a Comic-Con panel for the TV series "Legion," although Hawley did not provide further information about the new project. "I'll just say two words," he said, according to a report from Variety. "The first one is Doctor and the next one is Doom."
Fox, who owns rights to the "Fantastic Four" characters, is looking to find a new angle from which a new reboot of the franchise can be approached, following the critical and commercial failure of the 2015 reboot. The film starred Miles Teller, Kate Mara, Michael B. Jordan, and Jamie Bell, and grossed only $167 million worldwide on a production budget of $120 million, according to Box Office Mojo.
The studio produced its first "Fantastic Four" film in 2005, followed by a sequel, "Fantastic Four: Rise of the Silver Surfer" in 2007. The films starred Ioan Gruffudd, Jessica Alba, Chris Evans, and Michael Chiklis and had moderate commercial success, although they were not embraced by fans.
Victor Von Doom, also known as Doctor Doom, is the archvillain of the "Fantastic Four" storyline. He is a scientific genius and a totalitarian ruler of a fictional country called Latveria. He is known for wearing a metal mask to hide his disfigured face. The character was played by Julian McMahon in the 2005 and 2007 films, while Toby Kebbell portrayed the role in the 2015 reboot.
Despite the apparent failure of the "Fantastic Four" movies to establish a long-runner franchise film series, Fox has found success with its other comic book titles. Last year, "Deadpool" was released to huge critical and commercial success, spawning a sequel that is due in 2018. Earlier this year, the final Wolverine film, "Logan" was also hailed as both a critical and commercial success.
