Marvel Studios
After Spider-Man: No Way Home director Jon Watts stepped away from helming Fantastic Four earlier this year, Marvel Studios has spent the months since looking for a replacement for the massive role, and according to reports, they’ve found their man.
As reported by both The Direct and Deadline, Emmy-nominated WandaVision director Matt Shakman is in talks to helm the upcoming MCU epic, which is set to introduce the likes of Mr. Fantastic, the Invisible Woman, the Human Torch, and The Thing.
At this time, Fantastic Four — which does not have a cast list nor a production-start date — is set to kick off the Marvel Cinematic Universe’s “Phase Six” when it hits theaters on November 8, 2024.
Shakman steps in for Jon Watts, who parted ways with the project in the spring. Watts was coming off Spider-Man: No Way Home, which had just become the sixth highest-grossing film in global box office history with $1.89 billion and needed a break from the comic book realm. Marvel quickly began looking for his replacement, meeting with a number of candidates, and thought was the search may go all the way into the fall.
That said, there was always the thought Shakman was the guy to beat given how comfortable Feige was with him following WandaVision, which not only successfully launched Marvel’s limited series strategy for Disney+ but also earned several Emmy nominations including Best Director for Shakman.
MCU fans react to reports that WandaVision director Matt Shakman is in talks to helm Fantastic Four
Given that Shakman is largely a television director — although he has been attached to direct a new Star Wars film — the reaction to his hiring has been mixed given the importance of the Fantastic Four to Marvel lore. Others, however, seem to be on board with the choice.
i could get behind this https://t.co/Tv5U2sp2k4 pic.twitter.com/q1NYiGyAJ4
— mcu joseph quinn defender 🇵🇸 | fan account (@munsonmarvel) August 26, 2022
https://twitter.com/deputydawg94/status/1563205959618416642
Solid choice https://t.co/UmWsIoDE5m
— Bricks ‘N’ Stuff (@BricksNStuff) August 26, 2022
looking at his IMDB and i’m kinda floored like wandavision, game of thrones, succession, the boys, six feet under, it’s always sunny, psych, mad men, one tree hill, the good wife, ugly betty, NEW GIRL???? like okay king https://t.co/tYgThx6Kwa
— izzy (@spidermannwh) August 26, 2022
OMG A WIN https://t.co/54EcXW5qJH
— reina (@reiputation13) August 26, 2022
That’s a huge W https://t.co/iQQC2r8qJE
— Irie Sori (@Isori_21) August 26, 2022
https://twitter.com/FandomMenaceLs/status/1563203305056059399
Barely even an upgrade from Watts https://t.co/jKB2TrzqnD pic.twitter.com/0vYLlr1O5a
— 🌼 (@yamatogoat) August 26, 2022
Given that WandaVision — alongside Loki — is far and away the best MCU series to hit Disney+ so far, it’s easy to see why Kevin Feige and co. feel safe entrusting the film to Shakman.
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