Things are getting shuffled a bit over at Marvel Studios as Kevin Feige brings in Avatar: The Way of Water‘s Josh Friedman to write The Fantastic Four.
Matt Shakman, known for his work on WandaVision, is already onboard to direct Marvel’s first family. Jeff Kaplan and Ian Springer were originally tapped to write the script, but a change in writing teams must signal a change in tone. Kaplan and Springer are more known for their work on comedies.
Friedman has an extensive list of credits including films such as War of the Worlds, The Black Dahlia, Kingdom of the Planet of the Apes, Terminator: Dark Fate, and Avatar: The Way of Water. He is set to write Avatar 3 and Avatar 4, plus an Untitled Star Trek film. The filmmaker has also developed Locke & Key, Snowpiercer, Foundation and more for television.
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The Fantastic Four movie is based on the group by the same name first introduced by writer Stan Lee and artist Jack Kirby at Marvel Comics in 1961. The original members included Mister Fantastic, Invisible Woman, Human Torch, and The Thing.
The Fantastic Four‘s creative team have a big challenge ahead of them as the first few attempts at the film with the super team have all fallen short. The Fantastic Four are some of the oldest and most beloved teams in Marvel Comics history and deserve a film that lives up to the teams lore. The first attempt at feature film was an unreleased 1994 film by Constantin Film and starring Alex Hyde-White.
The 2005 film was dreadful and the sequel in 2007 also failing. Josh Trank, Jeremy Slater, and Simon Kinberg attempted a reboot in 2015, when 20th Century Fox still owned the rights, which was one of the worst rated comic book movies of all-time.
Marvel Cinematic Universe‘s film will be the second film in phase six, releasing February 14, 2025, following Deadpool 3 in November 2024.
