Ant-Man and the Wasp: Quantumania Director Speaks Out on Scratching His Fantastic Four Itch

Ant-Man and the Wasp: Quantumania arrives in theaters this weekend, not only concluding Marvel Studios' Ant-Man trilogy of movies, but kicking off Phase 5 of the Marvel Cinematic Universe's movies and television shows. The film will be helmed by franchise director Peyton Reed, who has had a long track record with wanting to be part of the Marvel mythos, previously pitching a Fantastic Four movie set in the team's original era of the 1960s. In a recent interview with The Hollywood Reporter, Reed spoke about how Quantumania captures some of the energy that he would have brought to his Fantastic Four adaptation.

"Yeah, I developed Fantastic Four for about a year back in 2002, 2003 when I was finishing up Down with Love, and I chased it," Reed explained. "I love Fantastic Four. It was my favorite comic growing up, and at the time, it was pre-MCU, obviously. But it became apparent at the time that Fox didn't want to make the same movie I wanted to make. So when I came on board Ant-Man — and now that we've had a chance to do a third one — I really funneled a lot of my Fantastic Four love into Ant-Man. I mean, they are both about dysfunctional families who are superheroes. In this movie we go into the Quantum Realm, which is a bizarro world, possibly not unlike the Negative Zone in Fantastic Four. My first memory of reading about the Microverse in the comics, which became the Quantum Realm, was a Fantastic Four story where Dr. Doom shrunk the Four down into the Microverse. [Writer's note: Reed is describing events that occurred in Fantastic Four (Vol. 1) No. 16.] So I really took that passion and transferred it into this thing. And honestly, now that they're actually making a Fantastic Four movie, my feeling is that I've already scratched that itch, so I really look forward to seeing Matt Shakman's version of Fantastic Four. I think it'll be a delight to see it on a massive IMAX screen and just enjoy it as a moviegoer."

What is the new Fantastic Four movie about?

Plot details, as well as any confirmed cast members, have not been revealed for Marvel's new Fantastic Four, which will be helmed by Matt Shakman. That being said, with the Marvel Cinematic Universe crossover event Avengers: Secret Wars on the horizon, and the team's ties to new franchise big bad Kang the Conqueror (Jonathan Majors), there is a lot of hype around the film.

"A lot of people know this origin story," Marvel Studios president Kevin Feige said in an interview last year. "A lot of people know the basics. How do we take that and bring something that they've never seen before... We've set a very high bar for ourselves with bringing that to the screen."

Are you excited for Marvel's Ant-Man and the Wasp: Quantumania and Fantastic Four? Share your thoughts with us in the comments below!

Ant-Man and the Wasp: Quantumania will debut in theaters on Friday, February 17th. Fantastic Four is currently scheduled to be released on February 17, 2025.