MCU's Fantastic Four undergoing another round of rewrites for Reboot

It seems the Fantastic Four reboot is about to get new rewrites after the screenplay has already had a pass from writers Jeff Kaplan, Ian Springer, and Josh Friedman.

As per the website CBR, they report that Hollywood insider, and the king of go-to-guy for all things geek culture in the entertainment space, Daniel Richtman, that next year’s reboot of The Fantastic Four – is once more undergoing rewrites – which will see the man who helmed all episodes of WandaVision, Matt Shakman, direct Marvel’s First Family for the first time within the MCU.

After Jon Watts stepped down from The Fantastic Four to focus on the George Clooney and Brad Pitt thriller, Wolfs, and to take a break from superhero films, Shakman was officially signed on in September 2022 and it was announced Jeff Kaplan and Ian Springer were tapped as writers to pen the film’s script. War of the Worlds and Kingdom of the Planet of the Apes scribe, Josh Friedman performed rewrites back in March last year.

Why are there more rewrites for Marvel’s Fantastic Four?

Understandably, pressure is on Marvel Studios and Walt Disney, now more than ever to make the Fantastic Four great again. So the script needs to be in shape for things to proceed. Richtman has not revealed who are the new writers performing rewrites on Friedman’s draft.

With principal photography expected to begin in August in time for a May 2, 2025 release date, if these changes do not resolve the recurring script problems, then it is expected that filming will be pushed back. The new script has been stated to be ready “within a month or so” according to Richtman.  

While there were rumblings, it was finally confirmed on Valentine’s Day that the cast of The Fantastic Four will include Pedro Pascal as Reed Richards/Mister Fantastic, Vanessa Kirby as Sue Storm/Invisible Woman, Ebon Moss-Bachrach as Ben Grimm/Thing, and Joseph Quinn as Johnny Storm/Human Torch with retro art teasing a 60s setting for the movie. So what does this mean for the film’s script?

Although the rewriting process can proceed up until when cameras begin to roll, scripts are usually finalized by pre-production when scenes are “locked” and turned into a “shooting script” whereby any further changes are either minimal and scenes that are removed are labeled as “omitted”.

The Hollywood Reporter confirmed the production studio quietly hired Marvel alum Eric Pearson to polish the script of The Fantastic Four, meaning the screenplay is in better shape than it has been for months. It is expected to begin principal photography in London sometime in August this year.