Marvel Studios Searching for “Big Name” Fantastic Four Director

The Marvel family is getting bigger. Marvel Studios is reportedly courting “big names” to direct the Fantastic Four reboot bringing the superhero family of Mr. Fantastic, the Invisible Woman, the Human Torch, and the Thing into the Marvel Cinematic Universe. Kevin Feige announced Tom Holland’s Spider-Man director Jon Watts would direct the reboot during Disney’s Investor Day in December 2020, but Watts officially stepped away from the MCU in April. According to Deadline’s Justin Kroll, Feige is considering an established filmmaker to helm Fantastic Four after recruiting Sony’s Spider-Man trilogy director Sam Raimi to replace Scott Derrickson on Doctor Strange 2.

In a series of tweets, Kroll reported Fantastic Four is “easily Marvel’s top [open directing assignment],” adding the studio is unlikely to fill the position “anytime soon as they are not even close to cutting down [the] long list of candidates.” 

Though a shortlist of directors has not surfaced from the “large mix of candidates,” Feige is said to be “taking a lot of shots at some big names,” according to the report. “One source close to process [says], ‘Kevin doesn’t want [to] oversee [the] entire shoot and after not having to worry about that with Raimi [on Doctor Strange 2], he is very game to [the] same outcome with this shoot.”

Some late night FANTASTIC FOUR directing search updates:

1. While it’s easily Marvel’s top ODA, one source says don’t expect it to be filled anytime soon as they are not even close to cutting down long list of candidates, “I’d be shocked if a choice is made before labor day.”

— Justin Kroll (@krolljvar) June 2, 2022

One source close to process, “Kevin doesn’t want oversee entire shoot and after not having to worry about that with Raimi, he is very game to same outcome with this shoot.”

— Justin Kroll (@krolljvar) June 2, 2022

Like Watts, who directed smaller films like Clown and Cop Car before rebooting Spider-Man, Marvel Studios’ strategy in recent years has been to hire talent making their first blockbuster for the studio, including Joss Whedon (The Avengers), Anthony and Joe Russo (the Captain America and Avengers franchises), James Gunn (Guardians of the Galaxy), Taika Waititi (Thor: Ragnarok), Cate Shortland (Black Widow), Destin Daniel Cretton (Shang-Chi), and Chloé Zhao (Eternals).

In a statement announcing Watts’ departure from Fantastic Four, Marvel Studios president Kevin Feige and co-president Louis D’Esposito said of the amicable separation, “We were looking forward to continuing our work with him to bring the Fantastic Four into the MCU but understand and are supportive of his reasons for stepping away. We are optimistic that we will have the opportunity to work together again at some point down the road.”

A release date and cast announcement for Fantastic Four are TBA. John Krasinski was the first member of the F4 to appear in the MCU in Doctor Strange in the Multiverse of Madness — making a cameo as a multiversal variant Reed Richards — though it’s unclear if Krasinski will reprise that role in Marvel’s Fantastic Four. 

Watts has since been announced as the co-creator and executive producer of Star Wars: Skeleton Crew, a new live-action series starring Jude Law for Disney+. He’s also developing the next Final Destination film for HBO Max as a producer and will direct an untitled thriller starring George Clooney and Brad Pitt for Apple.