'Fantastic Four: First Steps' Director Shares New Details About Film's Themes And Influence
Matt Shakman, the director of Marvel Studios’ upcoming Fantastic Four: First Steps film shared a number of details about the film’s plot and themes.
In an interview with Empire, Shakman said, “This is very much about the spirit of the Space Race. It's about JFK and optimism. It’s imagining these four going into space instead of Neil Armstrong and Buzz Aldrin. This idea is that they are the most famous people in America, because they’re adventurers, explorers, astronauts — not because they're superheroes. And they come back and they're superheroes on top of it. But primarily they're astronauts, they're family.”
Shakman went on to explain he’s making the film how he envisions Stanley Kubrick would make it, “I really wanted it to feel like it was made in 1965, the way Stanley Kubrick would have made it.” However, he adds the caveat, “Within reason.”
As for what he means by that, it’s more of the technical aspect of filmmaking by using “old lenses, and [taking] an approach to filmmaking that feels more of the time.” But again, he adds, “Of course, we still have a lot of CG.”
Regarding the film’s place in the Marvel Cinematic Universe, he said, “We are our own universe.”
“Which is wonderful and liberating. There's really no [other] superheroes. There's no Easter eggs,” he detailed. “There's no running into Iron Man or whatever. They're it, in this universe. I love the interconnected Marvel Universe, but we get to do something so new and so different. Eventually this world will meet up with other worlds — but for now this is our own little corner.”
The official description for the film reads, “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).”
It concludes, “And if Galactus’ plan to devour the entire planet and everyone on it weren’t bad enough, it suddenly gets very personal.”
Fantastic Four: First Steps arrives in theaters on July 25th.
What do you make of Shakman’s comments?
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I have optimism for this but only time will tell if this is just more Marvel woke slop or not