It seems Marvel Studios may be on the lookout for a new director to take over from Matt Shakman on the sequel to The Fantastic Four: First Steps.
Despite the perception that the latest big-screen outing for Marvel's First Family underperformed (it's probably safe to assume it didn't do as well as the studio hoped it would), the movie did manage to pass the $500 million mark at the worldwide box office. Not an outstanding showing, but far from a disaster in the current climate.
The team is set to return for Avengers: Doomsday, and while nothing has been officially announced, we had heard that Shakman had discussions about returning for a First Steps follow-up. Apparently, the studio is confident that general audiences will respond more positively to the characters after becoming more familiar with them in the next MCU event film.
Earlier this week, the news broke that Shakman is set to take the helm of a new Planet of the Apes movie for 20th Century Studios. Though there was nothing in the trade reports to indicate that this would prevent him from returning to direct a First Steps sequel (which is likely a few years away, anyway), The Hot Mic's Jeff Sneider has heard that he will not step behind the camera for the next FF movie.
It's still very early days (again, Marvel has yet to confirm plans for a sequel), but if Shakman doesn't return, we can probably expect a lot of FF fans to be disappointed.
If Marvel does decide to go with a new director, who would you like to see step in? Let us know in the comments.
First Steps stars Pedro Pascal (The Last of Us, The Mandalorian) as Reed Richards, aka Mr. Fantastic, Vanessa Kirby (Mission: Impossible - Dead Reckoning) as Sue Storm, aka the Invisible Woman, Joseph Quinn (Stranger Things, A Quiet Place Day One) as Johnny Storm, aka The Human Torch, and Ebon Moss-Bachrach (The Punisher, The Bear) as Ben Grimm, aka the Thing.
"Set against the vibrant backdrop of a 1960s-inspired, retro-futuristic world, Marvel Studios' The Fantastic Four: First Steps introduces Marvel’s First Family—Reed Richards/Mister Fantastic (Pedro Pascal), Sue Storm/Invisible Woman (Vanessa Kirby), Johnny Storm/Human Torch (Joseph Quinn) and Ben Grimm/The Thing (Ebon Moss-Bachrach) as they face their most daunting challenge yet.
Forced to balance their roles as heroes with the strength of their family bond, they must defend Earth from a ravenous space god called Galactus (Ralph Ineson) and his enigmatic Herald, Silver Surfer (Julia Garner). And if Galactus’ plan to devour the entire planet and everyone on it weren’t bad enough, it suddenly gets very personal."