Matt Shakman (Ventura, California, 1975) holds the most peculiar record imaginable in the Marvel universe; both in the cinematic and paper realms. He was the first to quote Shakespeare within the story of a superhero. Actually, there were two. Perhaps, if you delve a little deeper, you can find many more examples of Bard lovers among the crowd of men and women with XL powers (after all, they all wear leotards, including the author of Romeo and Juliet), but when it comes to film and series since Iron Man was released in 2008, it's hard to find someone like Shakman.
It happened in the final episode of his series WandaVision. In the most euphoric of conclusions, the real world and the one represented looked at each other as in the famous third act of Hamlet. Yes, the one where we witness the murder of the king by the usurper in a play within the play. Play in scene. Hamlet himself places himself not far from us to become a spectator of himself, an interpreter of his existence. What if we, in the audience, were nothing more than a piece in the prince's plan to humiliate his stepfather? Well, that's what happened in WandaVision. Matt Shakman explained it in an interview with EL MUNDO some time ago: "I had a television history professor who was convinced that if Shakespeare were alive, he would write for TV. And right now, for the Marvel Universe. If we look closely, he wrote, in order, comedies, then dramas, tragedies, and finally works like The Tempest that defy genres. Well, that's what WandaVision does." A record, undoubtedly.
But what Shakman brings us now is much more than just Shakespeare. If that were even possible. The Fantastic Four: first steps is to date the biggest challenge that the Marvel Cinematic Universe has faced in its long history of 36 films. The film premiering this Friday initiates what experts in the field call the sixth phase and does so with the commitment and arduous task of reviving everything. Have you heard of superhero fatigue? Well, here we are, so tired that even a mediocrity (this one from the opposite house, DC) like the new Superman by James Gunn seems like manna among so much boredom being exploited. Shakman, the man who quotes Shakespeare and who has developed most of his brilliant career outside of the cinema, halfway between theater and television (almost 130 television episodes bear his signature from Everwood to Ugly Betty, passing through Game of Thrones and the aforementioned WandaVision), is the chosen one to save us from tedium, to silence Scorsese (always so apocalyptic when it comes to superheroes), and, in passing, to brighten up the summer box office.
Superman: the exhausting and overacted attempt to tell everything at once everywhere (**)
Feeling overwhelmed? "I prefer not to think about it," he says from the other side of the zoom, relaxed and with a smile that seems nervous. And he continues: "In truth, the greatest pressure I have felt all this time comes from myself. I felt the weight of responsibility when I had to write about these characters that I love so much and grew up with. They are incredible individuals who have existed for over 60 years and have inspired many readers like me. They were part of the Silver Age of comics." Pause. "And it should be noted that they were the ones who already saved the Marvel house in the past."
Coincidence (or destiny) is like that. It seems that once again the fantastic family's mission is to save the lives of those who are like them, their superhero colleagues. What Shakman refers to is that The Fantastic Four were born in 1961 out of sheer desperation. At that time, Marvel and its people were struggling to come up with an appropriate response to the almighty DC Comics. The stroke of genius from Stan Lee and Jack Kirby was to downplay and humanize the matter. The dazzling yet contradictory idea was to put their heroes in therapy and make them confess their weaknesses. Thus, placing everyday flaws and problems at the center of the plot made the main characters reconnect with their readers. Yes, they had superpowers, but alongside them, they also suffered from super problems, many of them stemming from their super responsibilities.
A simple and very common family had just been born, yes, a family consisting of Reed Richards, also known as the super-elastic Mr. Fantastic; his girlfriend and later wife, Susan Storm, who would always be the Invisible Woman; Sue's impulsive younger brother, Johnny Storm, as the luminous Human Torch; and Reed's best friend, Ben Grimm, the impulsive, and rockier than a classic center-back, The Thing. They were the first of many to come, equally tormented by their internal struggles: the teenage Spider-Man, the millionaire savior Iron Man, the mutants (also teenagers) X-Men, the Black Panther...
"Yes," Shakman continues, "they helped save Marvel comics when they were in trouble. It was a bold and revolutionary idea to focus a comic on a family, a real family, with all its chaos, heart, and humor... Were you asking about the pressure? My only pressure has been to treat these characters well, make them feel real to the audience, make the story emotional. What happens with superheroes as a genre from now on is beyond me. My responsibility reaches its limits as a filmmaker." It seems like he's already speaking like another superhero, with each and every one of his torments.
The data justifies the fears and even makes the stigma that has fallen on Shakman's film of being, from an industrial point of view, the most important event in recent years for perhaps the entire film industry, seem valid. After a decade of almost dictatorial supremacy at the box office, the once impregnable Marvel Cinematic Universe is going through its own desert journey that seems endless. From the disaster of Ant-Man and the Wasp: Quantumania (2023) to the recent Thunderbolts, slightly more in shape, the house has maintained a sad, almost transitional tone. This grim, almost dirty gray tone has been evident both in theaters and in Disney's offices. First came the beheading and subsequent dismantling of Marvel Entertainment division led by the controversial (and close to Donald Trump) Ike Perlmutter, a character without whom it is impossible to understand both the resurgence of the comics themselves in the 90s and the foundation of the very studios in question. From hero to villain in a handful of decades. And then came the much more resonant, controversial, and bloody dismissal of Victoria Alonso, executive vice president of production, post-production, and animation at Marvel Studios until March 2023. All this without counting the fiasco of Jonathan Majors, who was supposed to be Kang the Conqueror and was fired following accusations of abuse by several women. And now, it's time for the almighty Kevin Feige to face the test on the way to the new Avengers, set to arrive at the end of next year.
The truth is that The Fantastic Four do not have it easy. The previous films about these same characters from 2005 (with its sequel two years later) and 2015, when the characters were part of 20th Century Fox before Disney acquired the studio in 2019, do not inspire optimism from the start. Neither the first two attempts signed by Tim Story nor the third one by Josh Trank surpassed the barrier of unbearable mediocrity. The first ones were before the success of the original Iron Man, and the last one did not do justice to its rivals (there were already two Avengers movies released). Hence, Shakman wants to create distance. To start with, so that no uncomfortable questions arise (hadn't everything ended after Endgame?), the movie takes place in the alternate scenario Earth 828. In other words, goodbye to the so-called Thanos dilemma. But not only that, in its aspiration to be different, the new film skips explaining the genesis directly. "The feeling is that the origin story has been told too many times.
The audience is tired of being told over and over how they got their powers. Now the origin of the story is different," says the director without hesitation in revealing what it is. This is not a spoiler since it's already in the trailer: Reed and Susan are going to be, as adults, parents.
What kind of creature will the Invisible Woman give birth to? We can already reveal that it will be a very, but very particular one. Besides being fantastic, of course. In the race to be different from everything before and propose something new for everything after, The Fantastic Four: First Steps goes all out, undoubtedly thanks to the $200 million budget and a cast led by Pedro Pascal and Vanessa Kirby, in creating a visually attractive and evocative universe.
Few movies in the Marvel Universe have been as visually striking, beautiful, well-crafted, and futuristic in a mythic past. Like the Jetsons cartoons (remember those?), or not far from Pixar's Wall-e, Shakman's proposal brings back an unreal and perfect 60s era from memory. Undoubtedly, the greatest achievement of a movie that is as pleasant, well-directed, entertaining, and timely as it is. We will see what happens at the box office, but the initial bet is uplifting and winning. And without a hint of cynicism.
Just as he did in the series WandaVision, the comic book enthusiast who is the director plays on building a space of identification with the viewer that essentially appeals to optimism. Shakman, who was in charge of the latest Star Trek project for a long time, does everything possible to approach Gene Roddenberry's universe of interplanetary cordiality. "The Fantastic Four were created in the 60s. In the 60s, there was the space race; people looked towards the stars. Precisely in that same era, Star Trek was born with a similar influence. There was a widespread feeling that technology would make the world better for everyone. Technology was not the enemy but the ultimate power of humanism, of humanity," he says on the verge of euphoria.
-Do we have to understand the movie as a political statement against dark anti-scientific, anti-vaccine, misinformation-spreading, reactionary times...?
-Obviously, it is not a political movie. Or it is to the same extent that Star Trek was, putting two completely different beings, strangers to each other, on the bridge of the Enterprise. The idea is that if we have healthy hearts and minds and work together as a team, as a family, things will improve, and the future will be better and brighter for everyone without exception, for all of humanity. It is a relevant message now because it was then. Let's not forget that Black Panther is introduced in the pages of The Fantastic Four. That means something. What is proposed is a place where idealism can thrive, where optimism is part of the essence of the world.
And now we just have to wait, once again and as always, for Shakespeare. The to be or not to be of the Marvel Universe begins now.