‘Fantastic Four’ Director Squashes Casting Rumors: “All The Casting Stuff You See Is Just Rumors”

Matt Shakman, director of the upcoming Fantastic Four film, has said that Fantastic Four will be his main priority moving forward and has revealed that filming for the project will begin “early next year.” (Via Collider)

Shakman has directing credits on Everybody Hates Chris (2005), and Fargo (2014), and most relevant, Shakman was the director for every episode on WandaVision (2021).

Shakman was originally going to helm Star Trek 4, but in August 2022, it was announced that not only would Shakman be directing Fantastic Four but that he would also be leaving the Star Trek 4 project.

“I had a great time working on ‘Star Trek’ for a little over a year, working closely with J.J. Abrams and everyone at Paramount, and I love that franchise, and I love that cast J.J. put together, and it would have been an unbelievable pleasure to work with them on the fourth installment there. But movies have different journeys and momentums and schedules are a little bit mercurial, and so when the ‘Fantastic Four’ opportunity came up, it was just too hard to pass up, and to go back home to Marvel, a place that I worked on ‘WandaVision’ at, with those people who are wonderful collaborators.” (Via CinemaBlend)

With the film so far in the future, and limited information accompanying it, there has been a lot of talks regarding which actors will play the titular characters. Many have speculated that actor John Krasinski will return to play Mr. Fantastic as he did in Doctor Strange in the Multiverse of Madness (2022), while others have theorized that an entirely new actor will play the part.

Addressing these rumors, Shakman said, “All the casting stuff you see is just rumors. We are early in our process there. We have nothing to announce right now, and certainly, when we do we’ll let you know.” (Via Collider)