Josh Trank felt "bitter" when ‘Fantastic Four’ was released.
The 36-year-old actor admitted that his 2015 superhero movie – which flopped with both critics and audiences – left him with ill-feelings toward the entire genre and it took him some time to recover.
He told The Hollywood Reporter: "I definitely felt bitter right when ‘Fantastic Four’ came out, and it was a bitterness toward that genre. I felt very bitter, and I felt outcasted from a group of cool filmmakers that are making those movies in a successful way. I probably felt bitter toward people who I have enormous respect for like James Gunn, who was miraculously able to make ‘Guardians of the Galaxy’ both a massive four-quadrant crowd pleaser but at the same time, a very personal, auteur-istic, idiosyncratic and crazy film. I just felt bitter toward all of that.
"At the same time, I started to see that those movies are what James Gunn is destined to make. That’s his home; that’s his world and he owns that. I have so much respect for it, and people like James Gunn have taken a genre that is otherwise very much easily produced in the hands of non-filmmakers to successful levels … He’s taken that genre and shown us that with the right, capable, confident mind that it can be turned into something that is unpredictable, interesting and so cinematic on every level."
And Josh feels that he made mistakes on the movie, because he wasn’t experienced enough.
He explained: "I just started to see that what I was trying to do as this young filmmaker who hadn’t earned the right yet after making only one movie … It’s something that I can easily say now, but back then, I wouldn’t be able to comprehend this thought. I hadn’t earned the right as a filmmaker yet to say that I could change the game with superhero films.
"What I tried to do with ‘Fantastic Four’ was so arrogant for somebody who hadn’t really gotten the handle of his own skill set as a filmmaker to do that kind of stuff with it. I can definitely watch those movies now, enjoy them and be separated from them. At the beginning, five years ago, I just felt bitter for very obvious reasons. I think it’s important to be honest with yourself and admit that. I know a lot of people who you can see it in their eyes that that’s how they feel — the way that I was feeling — but they would never say it. I think it’s important to say it because it allows you to advance and grow on your own personal path."