‘Fantastic Four’ Director Matt Shakman Teases Marvel Studios Reboot

The Fantastic Four are returning to the big screen!

Marvel Studios Fantastic Four MCU Reboot D23 Expo

Matt Shakman is opening up about his upcoming Fantastic Four movie for Marvel Studios.

During a recent interview with TheWrap, Matt Shakman spoke about his decision to step down from the director’s chair of the next Star Trek movie to take on the long-awaited Fantastic Four reboot at Marvel Studios. The comic book movie marks the second collaboration between Marvel and Shakman, who directed all nine episodes of the Disney Plus series WandaVision.

“It’s really a family there and to be able to go back and tackle something that I truly love, and they’re very similar in some ways: they both were launched in the ’60s at the same time, they’re both about optimism and looking to the stars and [how] technology can solve everything, and they’re about family too — the family you have, the family you make. So they’re aligned in many ways and speak to my heart and equally, so I’m excited to be working on Fantastic Four.”

Matt Shakman went on to add the following about his Star Trek exit and the next Fantastic Four movie, which begins production sometime in early 2024: “I had a great time working on Star Trek for a little over a year, working closely with J.J. Abrams and everyone at Paramount, and I love that franchise, and I love that cast that J.J. put together, and it would have been an unbelievable pleasure to work with them on the fourth installment there. But movies have different journeys and momentums and and schedules are a little bit mercurial, and so when the Fantastic Four opportunity came up, it was just too hard to pass up, and to go back home to Marvel, a place that I worked on WandaVision at, with those people who are wonderful collaborators.”

The Fantastic Four characters were created by Stan Lee and Jack Kirby, with the team making its first comic book appearance in 1961. The previous Fantastic Four movies, while popular, were not well-received by fans or critics, and Marvel Studios has an opportunity to right the wrongs of the past and deliver a feature that is true to the spirit of the comics.

What we know about the Fantastic Four movie

The Fantastic Four reboot is expected to be a fresh take on the classic Marvel characters, with a new cast. Matt Shakman is directing the movie from a screenplay by Jeff Kaplan and Ian Springer. It is currently scheduled to hit theaters in 2025.

John Krasinski played the Earth-838 variant of Reed Richards in Sam Raimi’s Doctor Strange in the Multiverse of Madness, but his future as the character is currently in doubt. Krasinski’s wife Emily Blunt has said that she’s hopeful we’ll see the actor back as Richards for Fantastic Four.

Fantastic Four opens on February 14, 2025.  Stay tuned for all the latest news regarding the future of the Marvel Cinematic Universe and make sure to subscribe to our YouTube channel for more content!

Michael Bezanidis

Michael Bezanidis

Michael is the Managing Editor of Heroic Hollywood. When he's not playing video games, he's usually writing about film and television.