“Fantastic Four” is close to finding a new director, as “WandaVision” filmmaker Matt Shakman is in early talks to direct the film at Marvel, an individual with knowledge of the project told TheWrap.
The MCU film is scheduled for release on Nov. 8, 2024.
Marvel did not return a request for comment.
“Fantastic Four” will arrive after Phase 5 closes with “Thunderbolts” on July 26, 2024. And while Marvel Studios did not reveal their full Phase 6 lineup, they did reveal that it will close out with two “Avengers” films: “Avengers: The Kang Dynasty” on May 2, 2025, and “Avengers: Secret Wars” on Nov. 7, 2025. Altogether, we’re building up to what Marvel has officially dubbed “The Multiverse Saga” in the lead-up to the franchise’s next Thanos-level event.
“Spider-Man: No Way Home” director Jon Watts was originally attached to direct the new “Fantastic Four” reboot, but the director and Marvel amicably parted ways over the project.
Created by Stan Lee and Jack Kirby, “Fantastic Four” is the comic that started it all for Marvel. Though the group’s concept is pure weirdness — science genius Reed Richards, his best friend Ben Grimm, his girlfriend Sue Storm and her reckless brother, Johnny, are exposed to cosmic radiation and develop superpowers — the team was depicted as a dysfunctional but loving family unit. That idea helped launch what became known as “the Marvel revolution,” a shift in superhero comics that emphasized flawed protagonists expressing humanistic values who often had to resolve family, dating and even financial challenges while protecting the public from an increasingly packed roster of supervillains.
The “Fantastic Four” characters have appeared in four previous films: two 20th Century Fox movies directed by Tim Story, the 2015 flop directed by Josh Trank and an unreleased movie directed by Roger Corman that was made solely for Constantin Film to maintain film rights.
Shakman directed all of Marvel’s first series “WandaVision” and is a veteran TV director who has worked on “The Great,” “Succession,” “The Boys,” “Game of Thrones” and many more shows. He most recently directed the 2014 film “Cut Bank” and is also attached to direct the new “Star Trek” film that will reunite the cast led by Chris Pine and Zachary Quinto and follow up from 2016’s “Star Trek Beyond.”
Matt Shakman is represented by UTA and Artists Firsts.
Deadline first reported the news.
