Michael Chiklis Displays On Combined Reception Of Fox’s Incredible 4 Motion pictures

One of many main actors of the 2005 Incredible 4 film will get candid in regards to the blended reception to the Marvel adaptation. One of the crucial well-known superhero teams to have been reimagined a number of instances on the large display is Marvel’s First Household, as 2025 marked the introduction of the Incredible 4 within the Marvel Cinematic Universe timeline.

Nevertheless, earlier than the MCU’s iteration in Section 6, there was the Fox-Marvel period within the early 2000s with Tim Story’s two installments, Incredible 4 and Incredible 4: Rise of the Silver Surfer. For a lot of common viewers members who did not observe the comics, Fox’s Incredible 4 films had been how they had been launched to the long-lasting Marvel workforce.

In a brand new interview with Collider, Michael Chiklis, who performed Ben Grimm, a.ok.a. The Factor, in each of Story’s Incredible 4 films, mirrored on the legacy of the short-lived Marvel franchise, together with the reception from followers and critics. In Chiklis’ opinion, many unfairly “maligned [the] movies.” However Chiklis confused that there was a variety of help from the viewers, stating the next:

There have been lots of people, I feel, critically who bought it unsuitable. They actually maligned our movies, and so they had been very underrated contemplating… they had been very cherished by the viewers. It was a type of instances the place critics weren’t nice to these movies, however the viewers was, and that also stays. I’ve all the time type of quietly gone like, okay, say what you need to say, however the individuals see it. And now all these years later, persons are type of acknowledging like, hey, these movies are family-friendly, enjoyable films… they bought so much proper. They might be imperfect, however they’re actually good films.

We made three quarters of $1 billion, these two films. So, you recognize, all these individuals cannot be utterly out of their minds, you recognize what I imply? Thanks for telling me that. It means so much to me. In response to followers who grew up together with his model of Ben Grimm and what Fox’s Incredible 4 movies meant to them.

It is essential to keep in mind that again when Fox put out the Incredible 4 films, the MCU did not even exist, as Hollywood was nonetheless extremely cautious about bringing superhero and comedian ebook tales to the large and small screens. All through the 2000s, many superhero diversifications went for a grittier tone, whereas the Incredible 4 films had been, as Chiklis identified, extremely family-friendly.

Fox’s Incredible 4 Motion pictures	Home Gross	Worldwide Gross	Worldwide Gross
Incredible 4 (2005)	$154.6 million	$178.8 million	$333.5 million
Incredible 4: Rise of the Silver Surfer (2007)	$131.9 million	$169.9 million	$301.9 million
Incredible 4 (2015)	$56.1 million	$111.7 million	$167.8 million

Even when they garnered blended responses, the primary two Incredible 4 films are higher remembered compared to 2015’s Incredible 4, which went in the wrong way with a really darkish and grounded interpretation, exhibiting how one shouldn’t adapt these characters. Having some campiness is pure for comedian ebook properties, which is what the 2000s’ Incredible 4 movies had been in a position to accomplish.

That is even why The Incredible 4: First Steps film is resonating extra with followers, as Marvel Studios leaned into what makes the characters as beloved as they’re within the comics. Even when the whole lot in Fox’s Incredible 4 movies wasn’t dealt with the very best, there’s nonetheless a lot followers love about these films to today, which says so much about their legacy.

Ioan Gruffudd's Reed Richards and Michael Chiklis' the Thing prepare to fight in Tim Story's 2005 Fantastic Four

Listening to Chiklis’ ideas on his Incredible 4 films all these years later goes to indicate how a lot that position meant to him, and what it means to listen to from followers who love what they did within the Fox movies. The MCU even paid homage to Fox’s Incredible 4 franchise when Chris Evans bought to reprise the position of Human Torch in 2024’s Deadpool & Wolverine.

Incredible 4 Motion pictures’ Rotten Tomatoes Rating	Critics’ Rating	Viewers Rating
Incredible 4 (2005)	28%	45%
Incredible 4: Rise of the Silver Surfer (2007)	37%	51%
Incredible 4 (2015)	9%	18%
The Incredible 4: First Steps (2025) (As Of 8/13/2025)	86%	91%

Whether or not or not Chiklis and the opposite Incredible 4 actors will get an opportunity to return down the road stays to be seen, however it could be enjoyable to see all of them reunited at the very least as soon as throughout The Multiverse Saga. Hopefully, whether or not it is in Avengers: Doomsday or Avengers: Secret Wars, followers will get to expertise Fox’s Incredible 4 yet one more time.