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Not that long ago, instead of Matt Shakman, it was “Spider-Man: No Way Home” director Jon Watts who was set to bring the Fantastic Four to the MCU. Now we finally know why Watts bowed out of “The Fantastic Four: First Steps” – he ran out of gas.
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Speaking at the Mediterranean Film Festival, as reported by the Hollywood Reporter, Watts fielded questions about his departure from “First Steps”.
Watts committed to “First Steps” between making “Spider-Man: Far From Home” and “No Way Home,” and he said that when it came time to start work on “The Fantastic Four,” it occurred to him, “I am out of gas.”
Watts continued, “The COVID layer on top of making a giant movie layer, I knew I didn’t have what it would’ve taken to make that movie great. I was just out of steam, so I just needed to take some time to recover. Everyone at Marvel totally understood.”
“They had been through it with me as well, so they knew how hard and draining that experience has been; in the end, very satisfying, but at some point, if you can’t do it at the level that you feel like you need to for it to be great, then it’s better to not do it.”
Particularly because it was being made during the COVID pandemic, Watts said the post-production for “No Way Home” was particularly grueling.
“The emotional strain of having to go through all of those COVID protocols while also trying to make something creative while also trying to make sure that your cast and crew were all safe — literally people could’ve died if you did things wrong — that and the post-production process was very difficult,” Watts explained.
“When you’re doing [visual effects work], there’s a whole international component to it where you’re using vendors from all over the world, and the supply chain had been interrupted because of COVID. It was really hard to get effects done in a traditional way.”
Shakman added that it will be a “totally surreal experience” for him to eventually watch “The Fantastic Four: First Steps”.
“The Fantastic Four: First Steps” releases in theaters July 25. The film is directed by Matt Shakman. It stars Pedro Pascal, Vanessa Kirby, Joseph Quinn, Ebon Moss-Bachrach, Paul Walter Hauser, Natasha Lyonne, Julia Garner, Ralph Ineson, John Malkovich, and Sarah Niles.
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