A new rumor claims that Marvel Studios’ Fantastic Four script is being touched up by a pair of new writers.
Fantastic Four Visionaries: Walter Simonson Vol. 1 TPB (2007), Marvel Comics
This latest rumor comes from Daniel RPK via Fantastic Four Updates on X. The account reports, “According to Daniel RPK, new writers were brought on to do rewrites for the ‘FANTASTIC FOUR’ script.”
The account added, “The new script is expected to be completed within the next month or two.”
According to @DanielRPK, new writers were brought on to do rewrites for the ‘FANTASTIC FOUR’ script.
The new script is expected to be completed within the next month or two. pic.twitter.com/n6eQNC10Ji
— Fantastic Four Updates (@F4Update) January 26, 2024
The rumor would seemingly be corroborated by DCULeaks, which revealed the name of said writers, “We can corroborate this. We’re hearing the new writers touching up the script are Scott Neustadter and Michael Weber.”
We can corroborate this. We’re hearing the new writers touching up the script are Scott Neustadter and Michael Weber. https://t.co/RyC2UT0HKp pic.twitter.com/JKJdTc7ejF
— r/DCULeaks (@rDCUleaks) January 26, 2024
The film was originally being written by Jeff Kaplan and Ian Springer according to a report from Deadline back in September 2022. In fact, that report claimed Kaplan and Springer had been working on the film even before director Matt Shakman boarded the project and the duo were “outlining where this next series of films will fit into the Marvel Cinematic Universe alongside Marvel Studios President Kevin Feige.
Shakman was announced as the director of the film back at D23 in September 2022.
Fantastic Four #510 (20024), Marvel Comics
READ: Report: ‘Fantastic Four’ Production Delayed As Pedro Pascal Drops Out Of ‘Weapons’
He previously revealed to ComicBook.com back in November 2022 that the film would be influenced by his past work on It’s Always Sunny in Philadelphia.
Shakman told the outlet, “I’ve learned so much from working on It’s Always Sunny over the years. Those guys bring a unique combination of playfulness and precision, and I think you have to have both of those things in everything you make.”
“You have to still be a kid in the sandbox playing and inventing, but you also have to be rigorous about what you’re doing and comedy is even more rigorous than anything else. The precision of making something funny is often way harder than making something really complicated with special effects work. So playfulness and precision,” he explained.
Mighty Marvel Masterworks: The Fantastic Four Vol. 3 – It Started On Yancy Street (2023), Marvel Comics
Shakman went on to share how the show’s improv style would also influence Fantastic Four and his future works, “And there’s so much improv on that show that the rule of improv, which maybe you’ve heard when you do improv, is you say yes and yes. If you’re in an improv skit with somebody, you say, ‘Well, I’m a doctor,’ and they go, ‘No, you’re not.’ It’s over. What do you do? And that rule of improv is such a good thing for the creative process. Yes and Yes, I like what you’re bringing. Now let’s also do that plus this.”
“And that’s, I think, the essence of collaboration and it’s how I think anything good, whether it’s a giant awesome show like Monarch that’s made across continents, or whether it’s something, Paddy’s Pub made for two nickels with four or five people. So that spirit infects, I think, or informs, I should say, everything that I do,” he shared.
Fantastic Four by Jonathan Hickman: The Complete Collection Vol. 4 (2023), Marvel Comics
There have not been a lot of hard details about the upcoming film, but there have been plenty of rumors and many of them are quite concerning. One of them in particular is the fact that the film would gender swap the Silver Surfer.
Jeff Sneider shared that rumor during an episode of The Hot Mic, “The idea is that one of his four heralds — someone had said — is going to be female. I have heard that the Silver Surfer is going to be female.”
He reiterated this information as part of his newsletter where he wrote, “And yes, you can expect to see a female Silver Surfer.”
It’s also rumored that Pedro Pascal will play Reed Richards because Kevin Feige thought the rest of the Fantastic Four cast was “way too white.” Sneider made that claim as well on his website writing, “I’m told [Kevin Feige] feared that the cast was ‘way too white,’ in the words of one insider. Reed Richards would be the character eyed to diversify the cast.”
He also claimed that the rest of the cast included Vanessa Kirby as Sue Storm, Joseph Quinn as Johnny Storm and Ebon Moss-Bachrach as Ben Grimm aka The Thing.
Sneider’s reporting about Pascal landing the role of Richards was seemingly backed up by Deadline’s Justin Kroll who shared, “Insiders add that scheduling is still being worked out, but multiple sources close to the negotiations are saying it’s headed in the right direction for Pascal to do this and his other future projects.”
LOS ANGELES, CALIFORNIA – FEBRUARY 28: Pedro Pascal and a Disney Parks character attend the Mandalorian special launch event at El Capitan Theatre in Hollywood, California on February 28, 2023. (Photo by Jesse Grant/Getty Images for Disney)
What do you make of this latest rumor that new writers have been brought on to Fantastic Four to touch up the script?
