Family rescues Earth

It’s 64 years since Marvel’s dysfunctional superhero family, The Fantastic Four, first made their comic book debut. After exposure to cosmic rays during a mission to outer space, genius inventor Reed Richards, his girlfriend — later wife — Sue Storm-Richards, her brother Johnny Storm and family friend and former college football star, turned master pilot Ben Grimm, were transformed into the superpower foursome of Mr Fantastic, the Invisible Woman, the Human Torch and The Thing.

Created by Marvel Comics pioneers Jack Kirby and Stan Lee, the Fantastic Four have held their place in comic book lore for the realism of their dysfunctional family dynamic and their decision to, rather than hide in the shadows of anonymity and secrecy, openly embrace their superhero celebrity status.

Born in the early 1960s American reality of Cold War paranoia, nuclear war anxiety and the space exploration ideals of the JFK years, the characters have had a long and twisting history, spawning several animated television adaptations, a short-lived radio incarnation, three lukewarmly received film adaptations and a legendary 1994 unreleased attempt by cult filmmaker Roger Corman that’s resurrected on YouTube.

Now, as the future of the seemingly unstoppable Marvel superhero film franchise juggernaut is dangerously uncertain and audience appetite for superhero content appears to be waning, Marvel head Kevin Feige is betting big on the old-school chops of The Fantastic Four to reinvigorate his brand and the genre. Starring the internet’s favourite celebrity Pedro Pascal as Reed, Vanessa Kirby as Sue, Joseph Quinn as Johnny Storm and Ebon Moss-Bachrach as Grimm, The Fantastic Four: First Steps is directed by Matt Shakman of It’s Always Sunny in Philadelphia and WandaVision notoriety.

Did the pressure of the fans' expectations affect you while making the film?

Matt Shakman: I was sitting in the audience at San Diego Comicon for the announcement of WandaVision in 2019 when Kevin Feige stood up on stage and said, “And you know what else is coming? Fantastic Four”. I thought, “Oh my goodness, I’m so excited for that movie. I wonder who’s going to get to do it?” Here I am, many years later, and it’s me making the film. It's joyful to be able to bring these characters whom I’ve loved since I was a kid to life. I feel the pressure of bringing Jack Ruby and Stan Lee's characters to life and pleasing the fans because I’m a fan too.

Have you seen the other screen adaptations, and did they influence your approach?

I've watched all the other films including the Roger Corman version. All the films are made with passion and a strong point of view. I didn’t think about the film I was making as being in conversation with them because they’ve been made, they’re out there. I focused on the comics, which I love. I grew up as a fan of the Fantastic Four in comic book form — I've had 60-plus years of comic books to absorb, read and think about. The movie is set in the 60s because I wanted to get close to the point of origin of these characters — the space race, JFK, the sense of optimism, it’s part of their DNA. They’re explorers more than superheroes. I tried to capture that sense, imagining a world where Neil Armstrong and Buzz Aldrin weren’t the first to get to the moon — it was really Reed, Sue, Johnny and the others.

A distinctive feature of this film is its 1960s retro-future design. What motivated this decision?

One of the things I love about New York City is you can feel the layers of its history. I wanted to add a new layer on top of that 60s New York: this retro-future layer, which existed because of Reed Richards and the Fantastic Four. Richards, the smartest man in the universe, was doing important things for years before he became Mr Fantastic. He's a combination of Steve Jobs and Albert Einstein, inventing robots, flying cars, monorails and new technologies to change his world. We had a 60s that felt familiar, based on architecture and photography of the time. Ideas about what the future would be like, looking forward from the 60s, is another layer — ideas Stanley Kubrick expressed in 2001 or the World’s Fair in New York in the 60s. We took that World’s Fair and made the whole city like that.

What does the audience need to be familiar with in terms of the sprawling timelines and universe of the other Marvel films?

This film is in its own universe, on its own version of Earth and the only superheroes are The Fantastic Four. You don’t have to have seen other Marvel films or TV shows to enjoy this movie; there’s no homework required. They'll eventually join up with the rest of the Marvel Cinematic Universe, which is great — I love interconnected storytelling and reading comics where characters come together. I also love reading stand-alone comics. This is a stand-alone. I didn’t feel pressure about telling a story outside of this chapter — I was focused on these characters, this amazing world.

• The Fantastic Four: First Steps is on circuit.