The Fantastic Four: First Steps Director Wants MCU Movie To Emulate a Stanley Kubrick Film

Forum 2 days ago

The Fantastic Four: First Steps Director Wants MCU Movie To Emulate a Stanley Kubrick Film

The Fantastic Four: First Steps director Matt Shakman is opening up about what fans can expect from the MCU movie.

Marvel Studios is releasing The Fantastic Four: First Steps this coming July. The movie stars Pedro Pascal as Reed Richards/Mister Fantastic, Vanessa Kirby as Sue Storm/Invisible Woman, Joseph Quinn as Johnny Storm/Human Torch, and Ebon Moss-Bachrach as Ben Grimm/The Thing.

What did Matt Shakman say about The Fantastic Four: First Steps?

Speaking with Empire Magazine, Shakman said that he “really wanted to go with as grounded a version of space as possible. So, no wormholes. Their tech is very much retro-future, but it’s also booster rockets. It’s a combination of Marvel and Apollo 11.”

He continued, “I really wanted it to feel like it was made in 1965, the way Stanley Kubrick would have made it. Within reason.”

To do that, Shakman said there was an emphasis on practical sets and props, including a 14-foot-tall spaceship miniature. He also said that they “used old lenses, and taken an approach to filmmaking that feels more of the time. Of course, we still have a lot of CG.”

Shakman also discussed how the movie is more about “the spirit of the Space Race,” along with “JFK and optimism” more so than it is about connecting to other MCU projects.

“We are our own universe,” he explained. “Which is wonderful and liberating. There’s really no [other] superheroes. There are no Easter eggs. 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 Fantastic Four: First Steps will be released in United States theaters on July 25, 2025.