Matt Shakman on How 'The Fantastic Four: First Steps' is Different From Previous Films | THR Video - video Dailymotion

The Hollywood Reporter

Director Matt Shakman chats with THR at 'The Fantastic Four: First Steps' premiere and reveals some easter eggs fans should look out for in the movie. Plus, he describes how his own life experiences influenced the film and how it is different than other interpretations.

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00:00Lifelong Fantastic Four fan, very excited to see the comic accuracy, Galactus, Giganto, so thrilled.

00:06What was the first moment that you knew you wanted to include visually, knowing you're a comic book fan when you were a kid or as an adult?

00:12You're like, that's the moment I need to tell the fans I got you.

00:15Yeah, well, Fantastic Four number one, it was very important to get that cover in.

00:19That was always on our list, so that was one of them.

00:22Now, I just heard that 828 is the universe we're using, and that's a love letter to Jack Kirby, which I adore.

00:26Is there an Easter egg that you're especially proud of that we should look out for?

00:30Well, you know, there was a Roger Corman version of Fantastic Four that was never released,

00:36and we used the four original actors from that movie in this film in cameos.

00:43That movie, I think, is really special.

00:45They made it with a lot of love, and it's always bummed me out that it never came out,

00:49and so they are included in this film.

00:51Now, the Mark Waid run versus the Kirby run versus Ryan North run, they're all very different, but there's a core to them.

00:56What did you want to make sure you were ensured was your core theme or tone or flavor before making the film?

01:02Well, I think all of those people you just mentioned, and I would add Byrne, and I would add Hickman,

01:05and I would add Kirby and Lee, and all the people that have approached these characters,

01:10they bring, I think, a lens of their own experience to it.

01:14Who are these characters to me?

01:15How do I see my own life reflected in them?

01:17And I bring my own experience as a husband, as a father.

01:20You know, the birth of my daughter was the most fantastic day of my life, right?

01:24And so that's really what I looked at it.

01:26How does a baby change a family?

01:29That's what we were looking at.

01:30Now, I don't know how much you can say, but Doom is obviously integral to Fantastic Four.

01:34How much did you have to say going forward with Doom and, like, the writer's room elements of the greater MCU?

01:39How much was that a conversation in your work?

01:41So I was mostly focused on this world, building this universe, 828, building this Earth in the 60s, this retrofuturism,

01:48introducing these four characters to the MCU, and where they go from here is out of my control.

01:55Yes.

01:55My last question for you.

01:56The Alex Ross influence feels so strong, and the Marvels feels like it's pulled out and put on this, and it's beautiful.

02:02I noticed an eyepatch character with a camera.

02:04Is that who I think it is?

02:05No.

02:06He doesn't have an eyepatch.

02:07I was so hopeful.

02:08It was shadowy.

02:08Yes, yes.

02:09Alex Ross, I mean, love Alex Ross.

02:11He's amazing.

02:12The way he depicts Reed stretching was a big influence.

02:15I feel it in every frame.

02:16The retrofuturism plus Ross means the world to me, man.

02:18Oh, good, good, good.

02:19Awesome.

Matt Shakman on How 'The Fantastic Four: First Steps' is Different From Previous Films | THR Video

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