Who We Would Pick To Direct the MCU's ‘Fantastic Four’
Marvel is expected to see an uptick in views and searches once again with the pending release of Thor: Love and Thunder in early July. Many fans are excited to see where the MCU goes now we have a jumbled mess of a timeline on our earth thanks to the events of Doctor Strange in the Multiverse of Madness. Without giving too much away for a movie that’s been out for a couple of months now but in the movie, Doctor Strange meets a girl who has the ability to travel through different multiverses (different versions of our world as we know it) and he comes across a group called the Illuminati who is made up of different heroes we know like Professor Xavier, Black Bolt, Captain Britain aka Peggy Carter, Captain Marvel aka Maria Rambeau and Mr. Fantastic. What has made fans incredibly excited about this last appearance is it all but confirms that Phase 4 of the Marvel cinematic plan will end on the return to the big screen for the Fantastic Four.
Going on almost three years now, not much has come to light about the design or plans for the movie. No actors have been attached to the movie but many would like to see The Office and Jack Ryan actor John Krasinski reprise his role as the main leader Reed Richards aka Mr. Fantastic. But in 2020, Kevin Feige the MCU Czar announced that Spider-Man: Far from Home director Jon Watts was to take the reigns for the pic. However this year, where still nothing much was happening on the Fantastic Four front, Jon Watts announced he was pulling out of the superhero genre of filmmaking and stepped down as the director.
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While the expected release of the movie is still about another year or two away, if we are to ensure the timeline to secure for Phase 4, with remaining films in the MCU currently wrapping filming or in post-production, we don’t have much more time before Marvel has to get a move on and get started. But now that a reliable and outstanding director in Watts is out, who can we get to replace him in the role? Here are some ideas:
Brad Bird
Brad Bird has been around the animation world and is best known for his work with The Iron Giant, Ratatouille, and The Incredibles. But he has also directed action movies like Mission: Impossible – Ghost Protocol and the Disney ride-based movie (albeit critically and commercially unsuccessful) Tomorrowland. He makes the best case to take on the role given his ability to take a family with superpowers like in The Incredibles and give us a mix of family comedy, action, and heart. This is something Marvel has certainly been able to keep with all their movies so this isn’t a big stretch for the studio to use a proven Oscar winner at the helm.
Colin Trevorrow
Colin Trevorrow is currently coming off the high that is a financial success in Jurassic World: Dominion. While critics are not over-enthusiastic about the film, fans are certainly happy with the film. Trevorrow can blend the new with the old in Jurassic World: Dominion which would play nicely in a new Fantastic Four movie. If he could take some of that expertise into this movie, it would work well given the theme of multiverses which could mean we bring back some former Fantastic Four actors like Jessica Alba, Ioan Gruffudd, and Miles Teller or maybe even Chris Evans! I mean it translated well for Doctor Strange 2. He also can work with a big budget and effects-driven productions which this movie certainly will need.
Kathyrn Bigelow
For a long time, I have been touting Kathryn Bigelow as the next logical choice for directing a Marvel or Star Wars property. Her previous directing credits include Point Break, K-19 The Widowmaker, The Hurt Locker, and Zero Dark Thirty. In each case, Bigelow has the ability to give us the grit that comes with her stories. She isn’t afraid to show the underbelly of a situation and I think that is something the MCU and The Fantastic Four could take their cue from given how previous Fantastic Four movies were steeped in hyperbole rather than reality. She too is an Oscar winner which will help bring cache to the movie and a certain level of credibility to the movie.
Alex Garland
Alex Garland is a high-concept sci-fi director with some great genre films under his belt. His debut was Ex Machina which featured Moon Knight himself Oscar Isaac playing a genius scientist whose AI runs amok in a unique, and intimate, way. And he also directed Annihilation about scientists encountering Aliens during a rescue mission. Garland can certainly handle the “science” of a Fantastic Four movie but he also has unique filming styles with a focus on popping colours and making the intimate seem vast and expansive. For all its critical knocks, The Eternals which was directed by another Indie director with Chloe Zhao, Marvel is certainly not against giving a big project over to someone who handles smaller budgets.
Tim Story
Maybe the best thing for Marvel and Disney to do is go back to where it all started. Now of course I am ignoring the first true adaption of the property with Roger Corman back in the 90s but perhaps we go back to the Fantastic Four and Fantastic Four: Rise of the Silver Surfer director Tim Story. He certainly knows the product well and could benefit from a return to comic book movies given the clarity of the comic book universe now instead of when he directed 15 years ago when not every piece of comic book movies was interconnected and run through one person. In an interview back in 2019 when the decision to have the Fantastic Four return for the end of Phase 4, Tim Story gave two pieces of advice to the next director, “First, I’d tell them to listen to Kevin Feige. Kevin Feige is the man.” He also said that no matter what you “…do all your research on Reed Richards. Stretching is not easy. But I wouldn't have much to say, they've [Marvel Studios] got an incredible, incredible system happening over there and I don't think they need to be told anything. I can't wait to see it.”
If everything goes according to plan and all the projects stay on track for their releases, a Fantastic Four movie would be a late 2023 or early 2024. But it won’t happen unless we get that director and story lined up. Here’s hoping that in the next couple of weeks, the project is back up and we have the answer to our questions.
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Written By Scott Ogino
Source(s): Hollywood Reporter, Screen Rant, Slash Film, Cinema Blend
Syndicated from Culture Slate