Josh Trank Says Rumored Synopsis For ‘Fantastic Four’ Is “Totally False”
Josh Trankhasn’t revealed much about the plotline of his newFantastic Fourreboot, which means rumor and speculation have had free rein. The latest story making the rounds is that Trank’s film will radically alter the team’s origins, doing away with the whole outer space mission thing and turning Ben and Reed into government weapons.
But it’s not true, according to Trank. The director took to Twitter today to say that the rumored synopsis wasn’t even “anything close” to the truth. Hit the jump to read all about the debunked plotline and Trank’s denials.
‘The Fantastic Four’ will tell the story of two very young friends, Reed Richards and Ben Grimm. After an event transforms the boys, they find themselves empowered with bizarre new abilities. Reed becomes a scientific genius who can stretch, twist and re-shape his body to inhuman proportions. Ben becomes a monstrous, craggy humanoid with orange, rock-like skin and super strength. However, the two end up being owned by the government and used as weapons. But after they mature, two others with powers come into the picture – Sue Storm “The Invisible Girl” and Johnny Storm “The Human Torch.”
That diverges enough from the characters' backstory in the comics that the summary got a lot of attention across the Internet. While casting sites are hardly the most trustworthy sources of plot info, it was tough not to wonder if there might be a bit of truth to it anyway. Not so, insists Trank.
that synopsis is definitely not the synopsis or anything close to the synopsis. i don’t know who put that out. byyee.
— Josh Trank (@josh_trank)July 27, 2025
@cinemablendtotally false… not true… stop the press…
This isn’t the first time Trank has shot down aFantastic Fourrumor — though the last one he rejected is actually looking more accurate every day. In August, hetweetedthat theMiles Tellercasting rumors weren’t true. But a couple of months later, Teller’s name surfaced again on ashortlistof actors eyed for the Reed Richards role. At this point, the young starisn’t even bothering to pretendhe’s not in the running.
Which is to say that can’t be 100% certain that Trank isn’t bending the truth here. Still, we’re inclined to believe that he’s being honest this time. Our sources say that the reported synopsis does not reflect the direction the film was taking before the latest script revisions. Things can change when a new writer comes on board, but such significant deviations late in the game aren’t common.
Fantastic FouropensJune 19, 2015.Jeremy Slaterwrote the original script, with rewrites bySimon Kinberg.Michael B. Jordanis expected to star as Johnny Storm a.k.a. The Human Torch, and casting is underway for the other roles.
