Disney has made several changes to the release schedule of the Marvel Cinematic Universe, with one of these delays being for Matt Shakman’s Fantastic Four film. It will now debut in theatres on February 14, 2025, instead of its previously announced date November 8, 2024.
There have been a few changes across the Multiverse for Phase 4 and 5 of the Marvel Cinematic Universe, aka, The Multiverse Saga — but don’t worry, new and exciting Super Heroes are still on their way to the big screen.
The Fantastic Four film is joined by several other MCU projects having their release dates changed. From Mahershala Ali’s ‘Blade’ which will star the iconic vampire hunter making his debut appearance in the superhero film franchise, the Ryan Reynolds and Hugh Jackman-starring MCU debut of the Merc with the Mouth Deadpool 3, and the Multiverse Saga conclusion, Avengers: Secret Wars.
This will also mark the third theatrical version of the Fantastic Four, with the previous two outings including a duo of films starring Ioan Gruffudd as Reed Richards aka Mr Fantastic, Jessica Alba as Sue Storm aka Invisible Woman, Michael Chiklis as Ben Grimm aka The Thing, and Chris Evans as Johnny Storm aka Human Torch that released in 2005 and 2007. Another film was made with a new cast in 2015 that critics poorly received, which starred Miles Teller, Kate Mara, Michael B. Jordan, and Jamie Bell.
Marvel is not the only superhero brand that has seen some changes in its content slate as its perpetual rival DC also saw big changes when it came to its cape-wearing film franchises. It was announced in late August that Shazam: Fury of the Gods, which stars Zachary Levi as the titular hero will now hit theatres on March 17, 2023, pushing the sequel to the 2019 film back four months from its original holiday season release date of December 21, 2022. This was done to fill the release date of the also delayed sequel to 2018’s Aquaman, James Wan’s Aquaman, and the Lost Kingdom which was moved from its March 17 release to Christmas Day, December 25, 2023. There was also the heavily controversial cancellation of Batgirl starring Leslie Grace.
While we might be a few years away from the superhero team’s newest film loop, we do know some of the names attached to the project. The previously mentioned Matt Shakman, who served as the director on Disney+’s WandaVision, will be taking the reins of the film as its director after Jon Watts, who recently directed the MCU Spider-Man trilogy, left the project. Also attached to write the film are Jeff Kaplan and Ian Springer.
MCU’s supervisor Kevin Feige will serve as a producer on the film. While John Krasinski played the role of Mr Fantastic in Doctor Strange in the Multiverse of Madness earlier this year, word of if he will be returning to the role as well as the additional casting of the titular team has yet to be announced.
Fantastic Four is now set to premiere on February 14, 2025. And while that may seem like a long haul, but somethings are just worth the heavy wait.
Source: Collider
