Matt Shakman to Direct 'Fantastic Four' Movie, Departs 'Star Trek' Sequel
The search for a ‘Fantastic Four’ director has finally come to an end.
Months after initial director Jon Watts stepped down from the job, Marvel Studios has hired Matt Shakman bring the first family of superheroes into the MCU for the first time. Although it’s not a done deal, it is looking very likely that the former child star turned television director will get to play in the big leagues and be given the keys to one of the most anticipated projects of 2024.
Fantastic Four is of course, one of Marvel Comics’ top tier superhero teams since debuting in 1961. After being hit by gamma rays during a mission in outer space, Reed Richards, Susan Storm, Ben Grimm and Johnny Storm gain unique superpowers that help them both save the world and gain huge popularity from the public. The strengths of the franchise come from the family like dynamic of the characters as they have arguments but are still there for one another.
Bringing the Fantastic Four to the big screen, however, has been a pretty messy affair even in the best of times. The first came in 1994 produced by low budget guru Roger Corman wasn’t released theatrically or on home video but has since been distributed through bootlegs. 20th Century Fox then landed the rights and released two critically panned but still commercially successful movies in 2005 and 2007 that were directed by Tim Story and starred Jessica Alba and Chris Evans long before Captain America.
The last attempt by Fox in 2015 often referred to fans as Fant4stic from Josh Trank is often considered one of the worst comic book movies ever made and is one of the few in the reliably dependable genre to tank at the box office. Disney and the MCU gained the rights to the characters following the acquisition of Fox in 2019.
After successfully bringing Spider-Man into the MCU with three films, Watts was initially hired to do the same with Fantastic Four but in April, he stepped down to take a break from the genre. Over the last several months, Marvel has been meeting with several contenders and ultimately gave Shakman the gig. Initially a child actor in the 80s and early 90s, he moved into directing for the small screen helming such episodes for shows like Everybody Hates Chris, House, Game of Thrones and Succession. Shakman really got the attention of the industry and Marvel last year when he helmed the entire 9- episode Wandavision limited series for Marvel. This led him to being offered to direct the next instalment of Star Trek for Paramount. Now thanks to his commitment to Fantastic Four, Shakman has now stepped down from that franchise movie.
It seems like the next two Phases of the MCU are slowly beginning to take shape and Fantastic Four will no doubt play a crucial role. With Shakman now on board, fans can hopefully get the movie that does these characters the justice they deserve. Details are still up in the air in terms of plot and we don’t have any casting decisions yet. However, with Disney’s fan convention D23 taking place in two weeks, it seems for quite certain that we will get more information as production gears up next year for its theatrical release on November 8, 2024