'Fantastic Four' Trailer #2 & New Poster Debuts

The second trailer from Fox reveals a lighter tone, until...

Story by Matt Cummings

20th Century Fox hit box office gold in 2014 with X-Men: Days of Future Past, a film that partially reset that troubled franchise, bringing both a solid story and excellent performances to the time-traveling epic. With Marvel Studios preparing to release Avengers: Age of Ultron on May 1st and Ant-man in July, it was clear that another superhero film was getting virtually ignored: Fox's Fantastic Four. Maligned for years and seemingly stuck in development Hell for just as long, it had become a joke to many who rgearded any potential as fleeting.

That was until 2 months ago, when a dark and brooding teaser showed up in January to good reviews. But, fans weren't entirely sold. Was there an actual story to the imagery, and what about the arrival of Villain #1 Victor von Doom, who was re-imagined by Fox into an angry tech blogger? And while only half of these questions were answered, we do know a lot more about the tone and direction this reboot will take. First, check out the trailer: As with the first trailer, we get a clear idea of just how tonally dark this film might be. But, we also get a few laughs and some decent introductions of the team, including Sue Storm (Kate Mara), Dr Reed Richards (Miles Teller), Johnny Storm (Michael B. Jordan), and The Thing (Jamie Bell). Toby Kebbell - who plays Dr Doom - also makes a brief appearance near the end of this trailer.

It seems apparent that things are all fun and games until the SH*T hits the proverbial fan, when a mission to another planet appears to go horribly wrong. That's not in line with how the team originally got their powers (their ship was bombarded with cosmic waves while conducting research in Earth's orbit), nor is it that Johnny Storm was black, or that Von Doom's origins were Internet-based. Some critics might also take exception with Doom's mask, which looks more like a metal bondage hood than anything else.

Even with these inconsistencies, the film looks polished and seems to have a good balance between the early comedy sequences and the much darker portions. Perhaps critics rest easier, knowing that Marvel's Ant-Man looks to now have the most issues? Probably not: this is the Internet afterall. Fantastic Four arrives on August 7, 2015. Discuss this review with fellow SJF fans on Facebook. On Twitter, follow us at @SandwichJohnFilms, and follow author Matt Cummings at @mfc90125.