With Fantastic Four: First Steps, screenwriters Josh Friedman and Eric Pearson rewrite the playbook, delivering a retro-cosmic origin that defies convention. Known for threading emotional gravity through genre, they reimagine Marvel’s First Family not as fledgling heroes, but as fractured legends navigating a retro-futuristic world on the brink. With cosmic threats looming and personal stakes intensifying, this isn’t just a reboot—it’s a reckoning, steeped in emotional complexity and charged with cosmic responsibility.
“A practical approach is always the best approach. You know, it’s real for me as a filmmaker, it’s real for the actors. I think the audience loves it,” says director Matt Shakman, emphasising grounding the film in practical sets and real locations, pushing back against the MCU’s heavy reliance on green screen.
Josh Friedman and Eric Pearson wrote the screenplay with story input from Jeff Kaplan and Ian Springer.
Friedman, known for Avatar: The Way of Water and War of the Worlds, often gravitates toward stories that blend spectacle with emotional stakes. His involvement suggests a desire to explore the human cost of cosmic power. Pearson, who worked on Thor: Ragnarok and Black Widow, brings a knack for balancing humour, action, and character introspection. His polish on the script likely helped ground the film’s retro-cosmic tone in relatable emotion.
Jeff Kaplan and Ian Springer were reportedly involved early on, even before Matt Shakman was confirmed as director. Their task was to map out how the Fantastic Four would fit into the broader MCU, suggesting their story input was more structural and thematic, setting the tone for a non-origin, emotionally mature take on the team.
The team wanted to avoid a traditional origin story, instead focusing on the emotional aftermath of being superheroes in a world that feels both nostalgic and alien.
Set adrift in a world tinged with analogue nostalgia and unspoken estrangement, the Fantastic Four navigate not the thrill of becoming heroes, but the quiet, often unbearable cost of having already been ones. In a retro-futuristic landscape that hums with outdated dreams and Cold War dread, their powers are less a gift than a ghost, haunting every strained connection and hard-won intimacy. This isn’t the origin story of heroes—it’s the afterimage of sacrifice.
The 1960s retro-futuristic setting allowed them to reimagine the Fantastic Four as mythic figures, already burdened by their powers and legacy.
The retro-futuristic setting allowed the writers to reimagine the Fantastic Four not as pioneers of science fiction, but as mythic figures lost in time—heroes from a future that never was. Set against a backdrop of analogue dreams and Cold War paranoia, they feel less like Marvel characters and more like celestial archetypes, burdened by legacy and haunted by purpose.
Themes of family, sacrifice, and cosmic responsibility appear central, echoing the writers’ shared interest in stories that explore identity under pressure.
Set against the vibrant backdrop of a 1960s-inspired, retro-futuristic world, Marvel Studios’ Fantastic Four: First Steps introduces Marvel’s First Family—Reed Richards (Pedro Pascal), Sue Storm (Vanessa Kirby), Johnny Storm (Joseph Quinn), and Ben Grimm (Ebon Moss-Bachrach)—as they face their most daunting challenge yet. Forced to balance their roles as heroes with the strength of their family bond, they must defend Earth from a ravenous space god called Galactus (Ralph Ineson) and his enigmatic Herald, the Silver Surfer (Julia Garner). And if Galactus’ plan to devour the entire planet weren’t bad enough, it suddenly gets very personal.
Fantastic Four: First Steps marks a pivotal new chapter in the franchise’s long, often turbulent cinematic history
Long before Marvel’s First Family found their footing in the Marvel Cinematic Universe, they wandered a cinematic wilderness of missed opportunities and tonal misfires. The first attempt—The Fantastic Four (1994), directed by Oley Sassone and penned by Craig J. Nevius and Kevin Rock—was never meant to be seen. Produced on a shoestring budget by Roger Corman solely to retain licensing rights, the film became an infamous bootleg curiosity: more lore than legend.
It wasn’t until Fantastic Four (2005) that the team leapt onto the mainstream stage. Directed by Tim Story and written by Michael France and Mark Frost, the film embraced a glossy, family-friendly vibe that introduced a new generation to Reed, Sue, Johnny, and Ben. While the tone veered toward cartoonish at times, it struck a commercial chord, leading to the 2007 sequel Rise of the Silver Surfer. With Don Payne and Mark Frost co-writing, the follow-up brought cosmic grandeur to the mix, introducing the Silver Surfer and teasing Galactus. Yet beneath the shimmer, critics found the storytelling too slight for the scale.
In 2015, the pendulum swung hard the other way. Josh Trank’s grim reboot of Fantastic Four —co-written with Jeremy Slater and Simon Kinberg—opted for a stripped-down, grounded origin, forsaking superhero spectacle for body horror and existential gloom. Behind-the-scenes conflict and studio interference led to a disjointed release that left audiences cold, stalling the franchise once again.
Enter Fantastic Four: First Steps (2025), a full-circle reinvention helmed by Matt Shakman, with a screenplay by Josh Friedman and Eric Pearson and story by Jeff Kaplan and Ian Springer. Rather than trace the moment they gained their powers, the film explores the emotional aftershocks of having already lived as heroes.
Meet the Minds Behind the Myth
A veteran of genre storytelling, Josh Friedman is best known for weaving emotional depth into high-concept sci-fi. His credits include War of the Worlds (2005), The Black Dahlia (2006), Terminator: Dark Fate (2019), and Avatar: The Way of Water (2022). On television, he created Terminator: The Sarah Connor Chronicles and co-developed Snowpiercer and Foundation. Friedman’s work often explores the human cost of survival in extraordinary circumstances, making him a natural fit for the mythic weight of Fantastic Four: First Steps.
Eric Pearson is Marvel Studios’ go-to script doctor turned screenwriter. A graduate of NYU’s Tisch School of the Arts, he began in Marvel’s in-house screenwriting program, penning several One-Shot shorts before co-writing Thor: Ragnarok (2017), Black Widow (2021), and Thunderbolts (2025). Known for balancing humor with emotional nuance, Pearson brings a grounded sensibility to cosmic stakes. His work on Fantastic Four: First Steps continues his evolution from punch-up specialist to architect of character-driven spectacle.
Matt Shakman, the director of Fantastic Four: First Steps, is a genre chameleon with roots in both prestige TV and superhero storytelling. After helming episodes of Game of Thrones, Succession, and The Boys, he made waves with WandaVision (2021), blending sitcom nostalgia with MCU pathos. Shakman’s theatrical background and love for practical effects inform his tactile, emotionally resonant style, perfect for the film’s retro-futuristic tone and mythic family drama.
The writing duo Jeff Kaplan and Ian Springer met at NYU’s Tisch School of the Arts and have been creative partners for over a decade. Known for their indie comedy Bert and Arnie’s Guide to Friendship (2013), they’ve since pivoted toward emotionally rich genre fare. Their story treatment for Fantastic Four: First Steps helped reframe Marvel’s First Family as cosmic exiles rather than origin-bound adventurers. Their collaborative voice blends wit, melancholy, and myth.
