If it worked with Spider-Man, then why can’t it work with the Fantastic Four? That’s the question you have to assume was asked during the development of the upcoming “The Fantastic Four: First Steps.” You see, much like what Marvel Studios did with the ‘Spider-Man’ franchise almost a decade ago, the studio is apparently ready to skip the origin story for the Fantastic Four in ‘First Steps.’

Speaking to EW after the massive Marvel Studios San Diego Comic-Con panel, filmmaker Matt Shakman talked about his upcoming film, “The Fantastic Four: First Steps.” Specifically, he explained why Marvel is forgoing a regular origin story film.

Continue reading ‘The Fantastic Four: First Steps’ Director Says The Film Is Not An Origin Story at The Playlist.

Marvel Studios has finally found an actor to play cosmic supervillain Galactus for their “Fantastic Four” reboot helmed by Matt Shakman (“WandaVision”). According to The Hollywood Reporter, Ralph Inseon (“The Green Knight”) has been selected for the fan-favorite villain, Galactus, who is expected to share scenes with Julia Garner’s Shalla-Bal, aka The Silver Surfer (potentially a nod to the Earth-X run of comics).

Continue reading ‘Fantastic Four’: Ralph Ineson To Play Villain Galactus, John Malkovich Joins In Mystery Role at The Playlist.

While “Star Trek” has flourished on the small screen and within many of Paramount+’s series like “Picard,” Trekkies haven’t experienced a film in theaters since 2016’s “Star Trek Beyond.” But there seems to be some tentatively good news on the horizon regarding the long-in-development “Star Trek 4.” Variety reports that the studio has hired Steve Yockey to write the newest incarnation of the “Star Trek 4” script, which is being described as a final installment.

Continue reading ‘Star Trek 4’: Paramount Hires ‘Flight Attendant’ Co-Creator Steve Yockey To Pen Final Film at The Playlist.

In today’s episode of Bingeworthy, our TV and streaming podcast host Mike DeAngelo uncovers the mystery of Apple TV+’s latest mystery series, “Monarch: Legacy of Monsters.” The show follows multiple characters in different eras on a twist-filled journey to uncover the mysteries of the organization at the center of the Godzilla MonsterVerse films. The show stars Kurt Russell, Wyatt Russell, Mari Yamamoto, Anders Holm, Kiersey Clemons, Ren Watabe, and more.

Continue reading ‘Monarch’: Director Matt Shakman Talks The MonsterVerse Series, Working With Marvel, ‘Star Trek 4’ & More [Bingeworthy Podcast] at The Playlist.

Buckle up, Apple TV+ subscribers: Legendary‘s MonsterVerse hits the streamer later this month with “Monarch: Legacy Of Monsters.” And advance word on the series is, well, as buzzy as possible. With its cast, scale, and (of course) its kaiju, “Legacy Of Monsters” looks like one of 2023’s last must-watch TV series.

READ MORE: ‘Monarch: Legacy Of Monsters’ Review: A Mix Of Epic Scale & Human Drama Gets Franchise TV Right

Don’t believe the hype?

Continue reading ‘Monarch: Legacy Of Monsters’ Inside Look Trailer: Go Behind The Scenes Of The MonsterVerse Series, Premiering On Apple TV+ On November 19 at The Playlist.

In an upcoming episode of The Discourse Podcast (part of The Playlist’s Podcast Network), director Matt Shakman sat down with host Mike DeAngelo to talk about the upcoming series, “Monarch: Legacy Of Monsters,” which Shakman executive produces and directs the first two episodes. But Shakman also touched on other topics, like his upcoming “Fantastic Four” film over at Marvel and how he got some lucky breaks in his career.

Continue reading Matt Shakman Says He Owes His Career To The ‘Always Sunny’ Guys Which Lead To ‘Game Of Thrones’ at The Playlist.

As a guest on The Playlist’s The Discourse Podcast, Matt Shakman talked about all kinds of topics, including Apple TV+‘s upcoming series “Monarch: Legacy Of Monsters,” which he directs the first two episodes of, his upcoming MCU installment “Fantastic Four,” and more. But did Shakman drop any info on his involvement on the still-unmade “Star Trek 4“?

Continue reading Matt Shakman Has Moved On From ‘Star Trek 4’ But Still Hopes Someone Makes It, Didn’t Read Tarantino’s Draft Of The Script at The Playlist.

There’s a lot of upheaval at Marvel Studios of late. Amid an ever-rearranging theatrical release schedule and months of VFX backlash against the studio, there’s also Marvel’s emergent TV Reckoning. “Daredevil: Born Again” will essentially start from scratch, with “Wonder Man” also rumored to be scrapped, too. That’s a lot of shifts creatively, and fast. So where does that leave other future Marvel projects, like the upcoming “Fantastic Four” film in Phase 6?

Continue reading ‘Fantastic Four’: Matt Shakman Says Marvel’s Recent Problems Haven’t Affected His Film & Talks “Responsibility” Of Getting The “First Family” Right at The Playlist.

Wondering what’s up with Apple TV+’s Monsterverse spin-off from Legendary and Warner Bros’ feature films featuring Godzilla and Kong? Wait no longer; we finally have answers. Today, Apple TV+ announced the title of its highly anticipated sci-fi drama based on Legendary’s Monsterverse as “Monarch: Legacy of Monsters.” Additionally, the streamer unveiled the first images from the 10-episode series starring Kurt Russell, Wyatt Russell, Anna Sawai, Kiersey Clemons, Ren Watabe, Mari Yamamoto, Anders Holm, Joe Tippett, and Elisa Lasowski.

Continue reading ‘Monarch: Legacy of Monsters’: Apple TV+’s Monsterverse Series Gets First Look & New Title at The Playlist.

Sometimes the tabloid mindset can push rabid fans down serious rabbit holes. One of the more recent examples of this was actress Mila Kunis having lunch with “Fantastic Four” director Matt Shakman (“WandaVision“), who is notably friends with a bunch of Hollywood industry people such as recognizable actors like Kunis. Well, despite famous people often lunching together in Los Angeles the meet-up in February sparked a wave of online casting rumors that Kunis was being courted for the female lead role of Sue Storm, and even less believable rumor she’s up for Ben Grimm, aka, The Thing.

Continue reading Mila Kunis Debunks Marvel Casting Rumors: “I’m Not In ‘Fantastic Four'” at The Playlist.

While “Deadpool 3” is gearing up to be Marvel’s first big attempt at tackling mutants, their upcoming “Fantastic Four” reboot is also going to be a real challenge as it’ll be the first proper hard reboot of the Fox era. The studio is said to be zeroing in on casting the four leading roles, and the latest update on the film is a bit of a switch-up on who is writing the script.

Continue reading ‘Fantastic Four’: Marvel Enlists ‘Avatar 2’ Scribe Josh Friedman To Help With Reboot at The Playlist.

What’s better than a true-crime series about a corrupt business? Well, how about when that business involves male strippers and stars none other than Kumail Nanjiani? Yeah, Hulu’s “Welcome to Chippendales” is a no-brainer. 

As seen in the trailer for “Welcome to Chippendales,” Kumail Nanjiani stars as Somen “Steve” Banerjee, an Indian immigrant who comes to the US for the American dream. What starts as a modest dream to run a business turns into a desire to build an empire based on the fact that people like to see sexy dudes dancing around in bowties and cuffs.

Continue reading ‘Welcome To Chippendales’ Trailer: Kumail Nanjiani Revolutionizes The Male Stripping Industry In Hulu’s New True-Crime Series at The Playlist.

Even though the film has a confirmed release date in 2024, there’s still a whole lot of mystery surrounding the new “Fantastic Four” movie. Namely, who are the chosen actors tasked with bringing Marvel’s First Family to life? But also, what’s going on behind the camera? You see, when the film was initially announced, Jon Watts was named as the director. However, Watts departed the project, and Marvel has yet to reveal a successor.

Continue reading ‘Fantastic Four’: ‘WandaVision’ Director Matt Shakman In Talks For Marvel’s Upcoming Film at The Playlist.

After the success of “Godzilla vs. Kong,” released during the pandemic, the Monsterverse continues to chug along. Warner Bros. recently announced it’s moving forward with director Adam Wingard’s “Godzilla vs. Kong 2,” which just added British actor Dan Stevens (“The Guest”) in a mystery role and will begin filming later this year in Australia.

While we’re awaiting news for solo Monsterverse films, Legendary announced a live-action “Godzilla” series earlier this year, and it’s now added a high-profile director.

Continue reading Live-Action ‘Godzilla & The Titans’ Series Taps ‘WandaVision’ Director Matt Shakman at The Playlist.

Following a successful reboot of the franchise, Paramount has been trying for years to get a fourth “Star Trek” movie together. Previous incarnations attempted to bring back the cast led by Chris Pine as James T. Kirk and hoped to employ time travel conceits to include Chris Hemsworth, who plays Kirk’s father, seen in the initial 2009 “Star Trek” reboot by J.J. Abrams.

Continue reading ‘Star Trek 4’: Paramount Loses Negotiation Leverage As Cast Is Reportedly Shocked By Announcement at The Playlist.

While the “Star Trek” franchise has been dormant in the film world since 2016, Paramount+ is riddled with new TV series in the universe that have been keeping the diehard fans happy over the last five years. However, it appears Paramount is ready to bring the franchise back to the big screen and the studio knows just the director to make it happen. Well, to be fair, the latest director that will attempt to make it happen, as “Star Trek” has been experiencing quite a few false starts over the past half-decade, huh?

Continue reading ‘WandaVision’ Director Matt Shakman To Helm New ‘Star Trek’ Film at The Playlist.

A common complaint about critics and viewers of the “WandaVision” series finale was that it seemingly let Wanda off the hook for essentially torturing and holding the citizens of Westview hostage. Even after we had a whole song about how it was “Agatha All Along,” it was actually Wanda who was behind everything, and some fans weren’t happy that Wanda got away free and didn’t get killed? Or imprisoned? It’s unclear what exactly they wanted out of the show, but now director Matt Shakman pushed back against criticism that the show agreed with and condoned Wanda’s behavior.

Continue reading ‘WandaVision’ Director Defends The Finale, “I Don’t Think We’re Letting Wanda Off The Hook” at The Playlist.

It’s officially a thing now. Following the success of “Disney Gallery: The Mandalorian,” Disney+’s behind-the-scenes look at the making of and Lucasfilm’s hit “Star Wars” show, it appears that every major Disney+ series is going to receive a doc series about the making of the show. This one’s a brand-new, one-off documentary-style special and not a series. Still, the impetus is the same: “Assembled: The Making of ‘WandaVision,” is a behind-the-scenes of Marvel Studios’ hit series “WandaVision,” and it keeps the conversation going for a much-talked-about.

Continue reading Marvel Studios’ ‘Assembled’ Trailer Goes Behind The Scenes Of ‘WandaVision’ at The Playlist.

With “WandaVision” done and fans now able to take a look at the whole story and figure out what they liked and didn’t like, there are still some that feel a bit underwhelmed by the finale. And part of this disappointment might stem from the internalized hype they had for what was expected, with major cameos and huge Easter Eggs about the future of the MCU. But according to director Matt Shakman, one of the biggest fan expectations involved a character that was never supposed to have been so important.

Continue reading ‘WandaVision’ Director Says Aerospace Engineer Was Never Intended To Be A ‘Fantastic Four’ Tease at The Playlist.

So, were you disappointed by the finale of “WandaVision?” After weeks of hype and Paul Bettany trolling fans, Disney+ released the final episode of the Marvel Studios series on Friday and ended a fascinating story of trauma and grief using a synthezoid superhero and tons of sitcom TV tropes. Well, now that the show is done and people have absorbed the full story, director Matt Shakman is here to give a bit of a history of how the finale changed over the course of post-production on the show.

Continue reading ‘WandaVision’ Director Says Monica, Darcy & Jimmy Woo Had Bigger Roles In Finale But Scenes Were Cut at The Playlist.

One of the best parts about binging a show is that your expectations are likely minimal about how the series will end. You can blow through a whole season over a couple of days and not even dwell on the mysteries, teases, and character arcs until the whole thing is wrapped up. Well, “WandaVision” has been slowly trickling out over the course of a couple of months, giving fans ample time to speculate, theorize, and generally drive themselves silly with outlandish ideas about what’s going to happen.

Continue reading ‘WandaVision’ Director Debunks 10th Episode Theory & Says Paul Bettany “Dug Himself A Hole” With Fans at The Playlist.

OK, “WandaVision” fans, there’s good news and bad news in the world of the Marvel Cinematic Universe. Given your vulnerable hearts already on edge thanks to the last episode, I’ll give you the good news first. After all, what is trauma other than preserving with a show past the point of a horribly revealed spoiler? (no spoilers in this story, don’t worry).

READ MORE: The 65
Most Anticipated TV Shows & Mini-Series Of 2021

OK, so, let’s talk about Pietro.

Continue reading ‘WandaVision’ Director Suggests More Marvel Appearances For Evan Peters, But Also Finale Disappointment From “Fan Theories” at The Playlist.

Grief and trauma are often so unbearable, so emotionally devastating, to survive, sometimes one has to escape reality and transform life into a… stylized situation comedy coping mechanism. That appears to be the linear way of explaining Marvel Studios’ “WandaVision,” a new romantic comedy mystery limited-series about loss, mental fragility, and anguish—the first of its kind for Disney+, in what promises to be a long line of further-connected Marvel storytelling.

Continue reading ‘WandaVision’ Teases Trauma & Grief While Playing With The Fantasy Of Sitcom Tropes [Review] at The Playlist.

The most exciting filmmakers are those who meticulously curate the tone and craft of their work. Directing every episode of a television season, as “WandaVision” executive producer Matt Shakman recently did, enables an artist to have a level of control over their work that television rarely provides. “WandaVision” is the first project in Phase 4 of the Marvel Cinematic Universe, and Marvel Studios’ first plunge into the world of streaming.

Continue reading ‘WandaVision’ Director Matt Shakman Talks Recreating Classic Sitcoms & Pushing The Boundaries Of The MCU [The Fourth Wall] at The Playlist.

Set after the events of “Avengers: Endgame,” Disney+‘s “WandaVision” focuses on the heroes Wanda Maximoff (Elizabeth Olsen) and Vision (Paul Bettany) as they settle down in the small suburban town of Westview. There’s one problem. The Vision died in the previous film “Avengers: Infinity War.” So how is is that this android humanoid still alive?

Continue reading ‘WandaVision’ Trailer: Marvel Flips Through Different Era Of Classic Television For Trippy New Disney+ Series at The Playlist.