Mumbai, Jul 23 (PTI) Fantastic Four is a team of superpowered individuals but at their core, they are a family — with all their emotional messiness and humour — and this is what filmmaker Matt Shakman wanted to capture with Marvel Studios’ “Fantastic Four: First Steps”. Shakman said when comic book legends Jack Kirby and Stan Lee created the team of superheroes in the 1960s, it was considered a bold move that made the characters instantly relatable and popular.
“It was a bold and innovative idea in the early 60s… to base a superhero team around a real family. Marvel was struggling as a comic book company in the 60s until Kirby and Lee created the ‘Fantastic Four’, and they became an overnight sensation, and part of it is because they’re so relatable.
“They are very charming in that they are a real family with all that messiness and all that heart and humour, and that’s what makes them special. We can see ourselves in them, and they do spectacular, amazing things, but also have to do the dishes, argue, love each other, give each other grief and make fun of each other. And that’s part of their charm,” the filmmaker told PTI in an interview.
Shakman’s film, which is set for worldwide release on Friday, stars Pedro Pascal as Reed Richards, also known as the stretchy Mr Fantastic; Vanessa Kirby as Sue Storm-Richards, the Invisible Woman; Joseph Quinn as the fiery Johnny Storm aka the Human Torch; and Ebon Moss-Bachrach as the rock-skinned powerhouse Ben Grimm, also called The Thing.
When the new movie was first announced by Marvel Studios head Kevin Feige at the San Diego Comic-Con in July 2019, Shakman said he was curious to know about the cast as well as the director who will be tackling the project.
At the time, the studio had entrusted him with the job of directing “WandaVision”, the television series about the popular Marvel Cinematic Universe (MCU) characters Wanda Maximoff and Vision.
“Before I was directing this movie, I was excited about, ‘Oh, who are they going to cast to play these characters?’ When they announced the movie at Comic-Con in 2019, I was there with ‘WandaVision’ and Kevin got up on stage and said, ‘Oh, we’re going to do Fantastic Four’.
“I thought, ‘Oh my gosh, I wonder who’s going to direct that?’ So, here I am years later, and it’s a pinch-me moment to be here directing these characters and bringing them to the MCU. It’s a huge honour,” Shakman said.
“Fantastic Four: First Steps” marks the fourth attempt to bring Marvel’s first family to the big screen, following a shelved 1994 film, a two-part movie series starring Ioan Gruffudd, Jessica Alba, Chris Evans, and Michael Chiklis, and a 2015 reboot by Josh Trank that was widely panned and failed to connect with Marvel fans.
When asked if the franchise’s rocky history added pressure, Shakman said he focused on honouring the original vision of Lee and Kirby.
“I was thinking mostly about these comics that I’ve loved since I was a kid. I’ve been a ‘Fantastic Four’ fan since I was a kid and the pressure I felt was to do right by these amazing characters, to do right by Jack Kirby and Stan Lee who created them, they’ve been around for 60 plus years, and they’ve been reinvented decade by decade by different comic book artists, and sometimes by filmmakers.
“And I think the best thing we can do is to try to find a personal connection to the material. And that’s what so many of the comic book artists have done, it’s what I’ve tried to do as a filmmaker, which is to see myself reflected in them… as a husband, as a father in them, and so I just tried to make it as personal as possible.” Set in a sleek 1960s-inspired retro-futuristic world, the movie follows the Fantastic Four as they try to thwart the planet-devouring threat of Galactus. It also stars Julia Garner as Shalla-Bal aka Silver Surfer.
Shakman believes a director should be personally invested in the story they’re telling and if they are not, they may not be the right person for the job.
“I think it’s really important to be as passionate about the material as possible, and if you aren’t, then you probably shouldn’t be doing it; you should be connecting to the stories that you’re telling and making them very personal and very specific and wanting to bring them to life in the best possible way.” Shakman said he was first a fan of Spider-Man and through that character, he found the Fantastic Four.
“Spider-Man is friends with the Human Torch and so I love these characters. I love the interconnected world, and I’m thrilled to be working on these movies,” he added.
“Fantastic Four: First Steps”, written by Josh Friedman, Eric Pearson, Jeff Kaplan, and Ian Springer, will be released in Indian theatres in four languages — English, Hindi, Tamil, and Telugu. PTI KKP RB BK BK
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