8 Superhero Movie Concept Designs Better Than We Actually Got

1. The Genuinely Fantastic Four

Fant4stic Concept Art Poster Fantastic Four
Dave Rapoza / 20th Century Fox

Josh Trank's ill-fated Fant4stic Four reboot failed on pretty much every level, but it did have the makings of a genuinely compelling story hidden underneath.

The casting itself was also done well, with Michael B. Jordan shining in particular as Johnny Storm/The Human Torch. There was a clear chemistry between the actors too, but with the film retreading all the mistakes that derailed the first series of films, it just wasn't meant to be.

Dig deeper into the creative process however, and the film's lost potential only becomes more apparent.

Sporting a more heroic look, and with all the characters in their iconic blue uniforms, Dave Rapoza's concept for the film ticks all the boxes for how the group should've looked on screen. Ultimately, Trank et al. opted for a slightly more horror-tinged approach, with Mister Fantastic having rings around his arms, and Ben Grimm being used as a military weapon.

Everything was much darker in the end, which put the film at odds with the vision that birthed the characters in the first place. The Fantastic Four were always meant to be a bright and colourful (albeit slightly dysfunctional) family - Trank's film cast them as science experiments let loose.

--

Are there any other pieces of concept art you wish made it to the final cut? Be sure to let us know in the comments below!

Advertisement

Watch Next


Content Producer/Presenter

WhatCulture's very own resident movie guy, Ewan has been working in the content creation biz for over 10 years now, having started as a freelance contributor to WhatCulture Gaming all the way back in 2015. After graduating with a First-Class Honours in History from Northumbria University in 2017 (where he won a prize for a totally killer dissertation on the Watergate years), Ewan took on the role of Comics Editor at WhatCulture and quickly developed WhatCulture Comics into one of the biggest superhero-focused channels on YouTube. He followed this with a brief hiatus at Screen Rant in 2021, where he worked across the Gaming and Film sections as a writer and editor, before returning to WhatCulture as a Senior Content Producer / Presenter in 2023. He started his own podcast, We Love Dad Movies, in 2022, and has contributed several written pieces to the Eisner-nominated comics website Shelfdust as well. In his current role, Ewan incorporates his love of cinema, comic books, and history into written pieces and video essays for WhatCulture's Film & TV channel, as well as WhatCulture Gaming and WhatCulture Horror, with a particular focus on nineties-era Dad Movies, old school Westerns, and Golden Age Hollywood Noir. John Carpenter is his fave, and he thinks Batman Beyond should never have been cancelled. If that's your vibe, you'll probably like his stuff.