We are living in a cinematic age of comic book franchises, an unprecedented commitment to reeling in large sums of cash by exploiting every crusader who has graced a comic’s panel. Multi-movie plans are made, universes are constructed and insanely elaborate crossovers are put into action. Executives have struck gold and are looking to abuse it until the well runs dry.

This summer saw Fox make a play with its dumpster fire of a film, “Fantastic Four.” The movie was universally hated and resulted in horrifyingly bad press for everyone involved. Director Josh Trank and Fox executives played a childish blame game, beginning with Trank tweeting that he had a “Fantastic Four” film people would have loved a year ago, and star Miles Teller became the country’s least favorite dolt after a now-infamous Esquire profile.

While all of that may be hilarious and a bit overwhelming, it is stoutly significant. A film based on a beloved comic book series failed in miserable fashion, jeopardizing a potential jackpot of a film series. Such failure terrifies those in the industry, who are hoping to fend off the growing power of television and streaming by adhering to a formula of adapting anything, especially comics, into explosive franchises. This formula results depressingly in less original and stimulating content.

The failure of “Fantastic Four” is even graver when understood in two different ways. One, Universal Pictures has already decimated all competition, breaking the international box office record. The feat has incredibly been accomplished with months to go and without the help of a superhero flick, finding worldwide success with “Furious 7” ($1.5 billion), “Jurassic World” ($1.6 billion) and “Minions” ($990 million).

Second, the procedure of picking newly thriving indie directors to head blockbusters seems less intelligent than before. Studios were hoping such directors could run cash crop franchises, as they’ve shown they have talent while being green enough to be easily controlled. Prior to directing “Four,” Trank’s singular credit was the semi-successful found-footage film “Chronicle” (2012). Similarly, Colin Trevorrow, who directed “Jurassic World” had only done the indie “Safety Not Guaranteed” (2012) before tackling dinosaurs. The formula had obvious flaws, and now it looks worse given Fox and Trank’s very publicized squabble.

Does this mean that superhero films are doomed? Sound the alarms if “Batman v. Superman” flops and “Avengers 3” is too convoluted for anyone to enjoy. Simply, “Fantastic Four” is like any other cinematic blunder, occurring in a time of higher stakes. A lack of trust and communication resulted in an awful film, a firestorm of bad press and one fantastic screw up.

A version of this article appeared in the Saturday, August 29, print edition. Email Ethan Sapienza at [email protected].