If you remember, in August of last year, Matt Shakman left the director’s chair on the next Star Trek film to helm Fantastic Four for Marvel Studios.
The decision wasn’t entirely shocking to fans, given Shakman’s work with the MCU before, but his sudden departure from Star Trek 4 came after the director had been attached to the project for over a year, reportedly worked alongside J.J. Abrams to develop the story for the long-delayed sequel.
The world of filmmaking isn’t a straight and narrow path of course, and Shakman has addressed his departure from Star Trek in a new interview with The Wrap where he explained how the lure of a return to the MCU was too much of an opportunity to pass up.
“Movies have different journeys and momentums 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,” states Shakman.
He adds, “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 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.”
Shakman is wrapping the Apple TV+ series, Godzilla and the Titans, and then will dive into Fantastic Four head first. At the time of writing, no actors are set to star as the titular characters.
Marvel Studios’ Fantastic Four is set for a release on February 14th, 2025. Star Trek 4 meanwhile remains in limbo, having been pulled from Paramount’s release schedule.
