A lot of fans are excited for Marvel Studios take on the Fantastic Four, but the movie is still in very early stages of development. WandaVision’s Matt Shakman has been attached for a while, but now it looks like the movie has found a new writer.
According to The Hollywood Reporter, Josh Friedman, who wrote Avatar: The Way of Water, has been hired to rewrite a script that comes from Ian Springer and Jeff Kaplan. We don’t know exactly why Friedman was brought on, but THR speculates that it could have something to do with the change in tone of the film.
Some think that with Friedman onboard, we could be getting a blockbuster which has very tight themes about family—just like Avatar 2. Other films that Friedman has worked on include Syeven Spielberg’s War of the Worlds as well as the series Terminator: The Sarah Connor Chronicles. Cameron also had him attached to Terminator: Dark Fate, but there’s probably other reasons that movie bombed besides the writing.
Admittedly Phase 5 is off to a weak start with Ant-Man and the Wasp: Quantumania, so fans are hoping that Marvel Studios gets its groove back soon. After Thor: Love and Thunder, Black Adam, and Quantumania failing to deliver critically at the box office, there is definitely pressure for Marvel to try and shake things up with their tried-and-true formula.
Fantastic Four is set to release on Feb. 14, 2025, but things could change based on how development is going for the film.
