Director Matt Shakman has been directing TV shows in a variety of genres since 2002. Among his many projects have been instantly recognizable shows such as Boston Legal, Six Feet Under, Ugly Betty, House, Mad Men, and American Gothic. Now he's taking on directing duties for his first big-budget Hollywood film with Marvel Studios' The Fantastic Four: First Steps.
But First Steps is not Shakman's first Marvel Studios project as he also directed the wildly successful and critically acclaimed Disney Plus series WandaVision, which took the world by storm in 2021. Shakman certainly knows his way around a superhero or fantasy script. In addition to his WandaVision directing credits, he also directed two episodes of season 7 of Game of Thrones in 2017 ("The Spoils of War" and "Eastwatch"). "The Spoils of War" in particular boasted an incredible nail-biting scene in which Jamie Lannister came dangerously close to killing Daenerys, while she was grounded and dismounted from her wounded dragon, Drogon.
Allow me just a few moments to fan-guy out on Mr. Shakman, because he has directed episodes of what is arguably the greatest fantasy TV drama series of all time! That's not just my opinion but also that of the Academy of Television Arts & Sciences, who have bestowed 59 Emmys to Game of Thrones during its run, including multiple Best Drama Series awards as well.
Matt Shakman's inspirations and influences for The Fantastic Four: First Steps
Shakman is a talented and creative director/storyteller who also earned Emmy nominations for WandaVision, including Outstanding Limited Series (shared with Kevin Feige and others) and Outstanding Directing. As a creative it's refreshing to see the choice of using the FF blue and white uniforms in The Fantastic Four: First Steps, which is likely a nod to my favorite comic book creator - John Byrne.
John Byrne took over the writing and artwork (penciller) of the Marvel Comics Fantastic Four series in 1981, beginning with issue No. 232. It's Byrne's issue No. 256, "The Annihilation Gambit!" in which he introduces the team's iconic suit upgrade with the white collar and white accents that Shakman also decided to use in the upcoming Marvel Cinematic Universe movie. Byrne had a brilliant run with the FF comic from 1981 to 1986, providing us with the uniquely quintessential version of Mr. Fantastic (Reed Richards), Invisible Woman (Sue Storm Richards), Human Torch (Johnny Storm), The Thing (Ben Grimm) that remain so to this day.
The Fantastic Four: First Steps has a Stanley Kubrick directorial aesthetic, reminiscent of his 1968 groundbreaking sci-fi film 2001: A Space Odyssey. And from the first look teasers, I understand that comparison. Both Space Odyssey and First Steps have a distinctive '60s retro-futuristic vibe - after all, Marvel's first family are astronauts. Additionally, Shakman has expressed in interviews that the First Steps title, amongst other things, is a reference to astronaut Neil Armstrong’s 1969 “first steps” on the Moon. Shakman is also familiar with the '60s settings when it comes to the MCU as WandaVision showcased the idyllic version of family life depicted in a '60s era sitcom that was manifested by the Scarlet Witch. Here in lies another '60s aesthetic in The Fantastic Four: Fist Steps but with the potential sci-fi flair of Kubrick's A Space Odyssey.
Shakman and Marvel Studios have assembled an impressive cast of talented character actors to portray Marvel's First Family, with Pedro Pascal (The Last of Us, The Mandalorian) as Mr. Fantastic; Vanessa Kirby (Mission: Impossible, The Crown) as Invisible Woman, Joseph Quinn (Stranger Things, Gladiator II) as the Human Torch and Ebon Moss-Bachrach (Andor, The Bear) as The Thing. Given the previous movie adaptations of The Fantastic Four haven't quite hit the mark, expectations are high for First Steps since this will be Marvel Studios' first attempt at bringing the characters to the big screen.
With this phenomenal cast, a visionary director, and screenwriters from WandaVision and Avatar: The Way of Water, audiences could be in store for a Marvel Masterpiece!