Earlier this month at D23, Marvel Studios’ Kevin Feige confirmed that WandaVisoin director Matt Shakman will helm Fantastic Four, the studio’s take on the team that launched the Marvel Universe in the comics. Now there is word on who will pen the script. Writing duo Jeff Kaplan and Ian Springer are on the project, The Hollywood Reporter has confirmed.
The team is behind the spec script Disaster Wedding, which has Palm Springs filmmaker Max Barbakow attached to direct for Warner Bros. They also penned the Rebel Wilson comedy K-Pop: Lost In America, which is in development. Deadline first reported the news of the duo’s involvement in the Marvel project.
Feige has said Fantastic Four, which was made into three films at 20th Century Fox before the studio was acquired by Disney, will not be another origin story. “A lot of people know this origin story. A lot of people know the basics. How do we take that and bring something that they’ve never seen before?” Feige told THR at San Diego Comic-Con in July.
Fantastic Four has a release date of Nov. 8, 2024 and will begin Phase 6 of Marvel’s storytelling. No cast has been set, though it is the subject of rampant speculation online. John Krasinski appeared as an alternate universe version of Reed Richards/Mr. Fantastic in May’s Doctor Strange in the Multiverse of Madness, though it is unknown if he will continue with the role.
Writer Stan Lee and Jartist ack Kirby introduced the superteam in 1961, with its members also including Sue Storm/The Invisible Woman, Johnny Storm/The Human Torch and the tortured Ben Grimm/The Thing.
Kaplan and Springer previously collaborated on the 2013 indie comedy Bert and Arnie’s Guide to Friendship, which Kaplan directed. They are repped by MGMT and Gersh.
