Summary
-
The Fantastic Four
movies have had a rocky history, with the 2015 reboot being a notable disaster. - Jessica Alba reflects fondly on her time playing Sue Storm in 2005 and 2007, highlighting the character’s unique qualities.
- The cast of Tim Story’s
Fantastic Four
movies have continued to find success in Hollywood since their superhero roles.
Jessica Alba has fond memories of starring in Fantastic Four, even if the movie has a checkered history in terms of both critical and financial success. If any Marvel property has had a difficult time receiving a worthy cinematic adaptation, it’s their first family. The 1994 iteration was crafted just to retain cinematic rights, Tim Story’s two naughties movies received middling financial responses and even worse critical ones, and the 2015 version is one of the most notable behind-the-scenes disasters in cinema history.
Some have pointed at casting as part of the problem, and in the case of the 2005 and 2007 movies, critics mostly pointed at Alba and Ioan Gruffudd as, respectively, Sue Storm, the Invisible Woman, and Reed Richards aka Mr. Fantastic. Yet, time has been fairly kind to both Story’s two movies in general, and the movie’s cast.
Fantastic Four and Fantastic Four: Rise of the Silver Surfer are, thus far, the best of the bunch, containing a level of fun that the 2015 reboot didn’t come close to possessing. And, after a five-year absence from the silver screen, Alba is returning via Netflix’s Trigger Warning, and when speaking with her ComicBook took the opportunity to discuss her time with the Marvel IP.
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It’s hard to believe it’s been nearly 20 years since her first time playing Sue Storm, but the MCU’s 2025 debut for Marvel’s first family will mark just that anniversary. Alba shared the following retrospective words about her experience playing the character:
It’s nothing but fond memories. I loved it so much playing that character. I feel like my whole life started in a lot of ways at that moment. I met my life partner, we’re still together, we have three kids. Tim Story, who directed, is still one of my best friends. We have New Year’s Eve together. It was great and she was such a cool, inspiring character and ahead of her time, I would say, in the genre. And still, you still haven’t seen someone who is so nurturing and feminine, but then also a fearsome badass. I haven’t seen that combination again. And so I think she still fills this beautiful kind of space or void in the Marvel universe.
It’s nice to hear that the cast (and director) are still tight. It’s also not too surprising, considering, regardless of how one feels about the caliber of the quartet’s performances, there was strong chemistry in both the 2005 movie and Rise of the Silver Surfer.
What Has the Cast of Story’s Movies Been Up to Since?
On Alba’s part, the Sin City star has had lead roles in movies such as the reviled The Love Guru, the underrated Machete (and a bit role in its equally underrated sequel), and reprised her role as Nancy Callahan in Sin City: A Dame to Kill For. She also co-lead the Spectrum series L.A.’s Finest, a spinoff of the Bad Boys film franchise.
Her cinematic brother, Chris Evans, has seen his career only take off more, most notably as Captain America in the MCU. As for The Thing’s Michael Chiklis, he’s had parts in projects including the Jason Statham-fronted Parker and the Adam Sandler vehicle Hubie Halloween. And, lastly, speaking of Bad Boys, Ioan Gruffudd has a major role in Bad Boys: Ride or Die.
You can check out the trailer for Alba’s Trigger Warning below:
