Bad news for Paramount Pictures and its plans to drag Star Trek 4 out of development hell, as WandaVision helmer Matt Shakman has vacated the director’s chair on the sci-fi sequel in favour of a return to the Marvel Cinematic Universe.
“Matt Shakman is an incredibly talented filmmaker, and we regret the timing didn’t align for him to direct our upcoming Star Trek film,” reads the official statement from Paramount, “We are grateful for his many contributions, are excited about the creative vision of this next chapter and look forward to bringing it to audiences all around the world.”
It was reported late last week that Shakman had entered talks with Marvel to launch Phase Six of the MCU with the studio’s Fantastic Four reboot. While we’re yet to get an announcement from Marvel or Disney, the fact that Shakman now has a free schedule would seem to suggest that official confirmation is only a matter of time.
Marvel had initially enlisted Spider-Man director Jon Watts for Fantastic Four, although Watts exited the project back in April feeling that he needed a break from superheroes after a trio of Spidey movies.
So far, details on Marvel’s plans for its First Family are being kept under wraps, and there’s been no word as to whether we might see John Krasinski reprising his role of Reed Richards after portraying the Earth-838 variant of Mister Fantastic earlier this year in Doctor Strange and the Multiverse of Madness.
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Fantastic Four is set for release on November 8th 2024.