Marvel's FANTASTIC FOUR Lands AVATAR: THE WAY OF WATER Writer Josh Friedman

Marvel Studios has hired a new writer to work on the script for its highly-anticipated Fantastic Four movie. Josh Friedman, who has worked on Avatar: The Way of Water, has been brought on board to rewrite the script, which was previously worked on by Jeff Kaplan and Ian Springer.

The film is being directed by Matt Shakman (WandaVision), and it will be the big MCU movie that kicks off Phase 6. Friedman has a lot of experience working on sci-fi projects, which also includes Steven Spielberg’s War of the Worlds, he also developed TNT’s Snowpiercer series, he was the writer and creator of Terminator: The Sarah Connor Chronicles, and also worked on Terminator: Dark Fate.

The writer is a strong talent and it will be interesting to see what he ends up bringing to Fantastic Four! When previously talking about the movie, Kevin Feige said that Marvel’s first family is going to be a big pillar of the future of the MCU. He said:

“The only other one in terms of me personally and my 23-year history is the Fantastic Four. We sort of talked about mutants and that whole aspect to the Marvel world, but Fantastic Four is the foundation for everything that came after in the comics. There's certainly been versions of it [on screen], but never inhabiting the storytelling of the MCU. And that's something that is really exciting for us. People will start to hear more about that soon. We plan on that being a big pillar of the MCU going forward, just the way they've been in the comics for 50 or 60 years.”

Marvel producer Stephen Broussard previously promised that the film will be a true celebration of the original source material from the comics:

“I wouldn’t presume to know everything about that film; I’m not necessarily working on it. But one of the founding principles of Marvel, going back to Iron Man and the casting of Tony that I think has resonated through today, is to embrace the source material and these comics that have been around forever. They’re older than me, and I’m guessing they’re older than you too. They’ve been around for a while for a reason, [so we] lean into that.”

There’s not much known about the project. Casting is "gearing up", and the studio is looking to cast Sue Storm first. They will then build the team around her. Jodie Comer (Killing Eve) has been rumored for the role, but nothing is set in stone yet.

Fantastic Four arrives in theaters on February 14, 2025.

Source: THR