Movies

First Step’s Director Reveals the Deleted Scenes You Will not See [Exclusive]

July 28, 2025

“I have been spending time with these characters since I used to be a child,” director Matt Shakman tells Collider’s Steve Weintraub, forward of The Incredible 4: First Steps theatrical debut. Now, as a director who’s left his fingerprint on numerous iconic collection like Sport of Thrones, WandaVision, and It is All the time Sunny in Philadelphia, Shakman is bringing the comics of his childhood to the large display screen with Marvel Studios.

Studying from one of the best — Incredible 4 co-creator Jack Kirby — Shakman is aware of that the simplest option to make an unforgettable blockbuster is to depart a bit of your coronary heart in it. In First Steps, not solely is he introducing Marvel’s First Household to the Marvel Cinematic Universe, however he is setting Reed Richards (Pedro Pascal), Sue Storm (Vanessa Kirby), Johnny Storm (Joseph Quinn), and Ben Grimm (Ebon Moss-Bachrach) off on one in all life’s most magical journeys: parenthood. Sadly, Mister Incredible, Invisible Girl, Human Torch, and The Factor are additionally up towards their most difficult mission but: saving Earth from the planet-devouring Galactus (Ralph Ineson) and his Herald, Silver Surfer (Julia Garner).

On this interview, Shakman takes us by means of his thought course of for tackling his personal difficult mission of condensing an origin story right into a fantastical two-hour narrative worthy of the MCU. He discusses the tons of deleted scenes, from backstory to Ben’s look on The Relationship Sport, to the “Incredible 4 boot camp” the solid needed to bear earlier than creating that on-screen chemistry. Shakman additionally discusses the Jack Kirby tribute, feedback on his future with the MCU, and extra.

There Are “a Ton” of Deleted Scenes for the Incredible 4’s Backstory

“It’s a must to continuously take into consideration the larger image.”

COLLIDER: The very first thing I wish to say is you crushed this. Dude, I beloved it. I feel my largest grievance concerning the film is that it ends. I actually object to not having a four-hour Incredible 4 film, so what can we do sooner or later to alter this?

MATT SHAKMAN: I suppose make one other one, proper?

Precisely. All kidding apart, I am obsessive about the modifying course of as a result of it is the place all of it comes collectively. So, you have got your meeting, you get within the modifying room, you have got all of your footage. Are you leaping by means of the window since you’re so nervous, or are you want, “Oh, now we have it?”

SHAKMAN: No, I imply, we have been working as we have been taking pictures, too. The editors are there. They’re working as we go, so we are able to see how issues are touchdown. It helps you notice what you are taking pictures to edit as you go, right down to, “I’m lacking a shot right here. I want one thing else right here, too. Oh, wow, this connection is so nice. I have to do extra of that or much less of this.” Then, we deliberately wrote and shot much more than we ended up utilizing or needing to make use of for his or her previous. There is a ton of stuff that you’ve got seen most likely bits and items of — the tour of the Baxter Constructing or Reed’s Mister Incredible present, and even Ben on The Relationship Sport. We shot all these items as a result of we knew we would have liked to construct an enormous world, and we would have liked to clarify what they have been doing for 4 years, as a result of our film began 4 years after that, and we finally could not use all of it. However realizing we had extra was useful.

This Main Life Milestone Impressed the Incredible 4’s Journey in ‘First Steps’

“For me, the beginning of my daughter was like probably the most improbable day of my life.”

The film’s slightly below two hours. Did you have got a reduce that was means longer, or was it all the time, “We’re aiming for 2 hours?”

SHAKMAN: I did not have a quantity in thoughts. I used to be simply making an attempt to go for the model that labored one of the best, that felt prefer it was actually transferring in the correct course, that we have been getting all the knowledge whenever you needed it. As a result of we have been doing a little issues that have been difficult. We have been skipping an origin story, but in addition making an attempt to offer you all the knowledge you wanted to know to know who these characters have been, which signifies that the traditional structural ticking clocks needed to get pushed slightly bit. Like, when is it too late to introduce the Silver Surfer? How far can I push that earlier than we herald what the main risk of the film is? How lengthy can we spend attending to know and love these characters and their atmosphere? How a lot is an excessive amount of? You by no means actually know till you begin to put it collectively and really feel it out for your self.

For people who find themselves going to wish to know, do you have got loads of quote-unquote good deleted scenes that you just’re like, “Oh, I can not consider now we have to chop this?”

SHAKMAN: Undoubtedly. Oh, there’s a ton of stuff that we shot that’s actually great that we finally did not use, or could not use.

Is there one scene or two scenes that you just have been crushed to let go?

SHAKMAN: No. On the time you find yourself chopping it, you are doing it for a purpose. You are trying on the bigger image, and also you’re capable of make these cuts as a result of they make sense. Finally, you realize it is for the larger good. It is all the time, within the publish course of, onerous to see the forest within the bushes. It’s a must to continuously take into consideration the larger image. So, I imply, this solid is superb, and the entire supporting solid is superb, and the work of the design crew and cinematography, every thing. These are tons of nice scenes that will be great to have within the movie, however finally, they simply did not contribute to the absolute best narrative.

Fantastic Four First Steps Silver Surfer — Picture through Marvel Studios

What’s one thing that you just fought for tooth and nail? You are like, “This must be within the film,” and perhaps individuals round you have been like, “Are you positive?” Is there one thing that you may share that ended up within the film?

SHAKMAN: No, there was by no means something I needed to struggle for. That is the wonderful thing about Marvel. I really feel like we’re all making the identical film, and dealing actually onerous to inform the identical story. It was clear what we have been making an attempt to inform from the start. However positively, I needed Franklin’s beginning to be an enormous a part of this film. For me, the beginning of my daughter was like probably the most improbable day of my life, you realize? They’re all about journeying into the unknown, and there is nothing extra mysterious than journeying into parenthood. And that second taking place in a second of excessive drama, being chased by the Surfer, slingshotting round a neutron star? It is like, “How can I take advantage of tense beginning doable, however nonetheless have it finish in a second of actual surprise and awe for them?” As a result of this film finally is about how a child adjustments a household, and the way it adjustments a pair.

The edit on this film is basically spectacular since you are doing a lot, and that is why I needed to the touch on it. You are doing a lot with the story and increasing the world. Anyway, I am off on a tangent.

SHAKMAN: It is nice to listen to.

The modifying is improbable.

The Solid Created Chemistry in Their “Incredible 4 Boot Camp”

Shakman additionally discusses the tribute to Jack Kirby.

The Fantastic Four: First Steps cast stand in a line in their uniforms

When did you notice that the solid was going to be a homerun? Clearly, you most likely did a chemistry learn otherwise you examined all of them, however the 4 of them collectively are simply so — I do not wish to use the time period improbable — wonderful.

SHAKMAN: Once we have been rehearsing, after we have been having our first read-through, these have been the primary possibilities I actually needed to see all of them collectively. I like all of them individually, and I had a way that they’d match collectively effectively, simply primarily based on their sensibilities and primarily based on what I knew of them as individuals, and in addition as performers. Additionally, pay attention, nice actors create nice chemistry. I’ve seen that my whole profession. So, I simply had a way. However we had a three-week rehearsal course of earlier than we began filming, and seeing all of them collectively in a room, taking part in, improvising, studying interval dances, going by means of the script, doing analysis, speaking to astronauts, physicists, no matter we have been doing… We have been doing loads of enjoyable stuff. We had a child are available in. We modified diapers. We did all types of stuff. It was all simply type of a Incredible 4 boot camp. That is actually the place I noticed all of them gel.

I do know that after individuals see this film, they are going to say, “What’s he doing subsequent at Marvel?” So I am asking you, what are you doing subsequent at Marvel?

SHAKMAN: I do not know! I do not know what I am doing subsequent at Marvel, or, actually, in life. [Laughs] Who is aware of?

Clearly, Incredible 4’s going to be within the subsequent two Avengers motion pictures, however it’s clear that they are going to be an enormous a part of the MCU going into the longer term. Are you already pondering, as a filmmaker, “I might like to spend extra time with these characters,” and serious about concepts?

SHAKMAN: I imply, I have been spending time with these characters since I used to be a child. I’ve beloved these comics since I used to be a child. I like them. They’re superb characters, and it was such a privilege to have the ability to carry them to the MCU to make this film. It was a pleasure. So, it is all the time a pleasure to consider spending time with them. They’re nice tales. Many, a few years.

Why It's a Good Thing 'The Fantastic Four' Takes Place in the Past (1)

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It is a Damned Good Factor ‘The Incredible 4: First Steps’ Is Going Again to the Previous

It is giving the Jetsons, and we’re right here for it.

I just like the non-answer, however let’s transfer previous that for the Jack Kirby. I like the tribute that Kirby will get on the finish of the credit. There is a quote. Are you able to speak about your relationship with Kirby and what you drew on from the comics to guarantee that Kirby’s coronary heart is on this film?

SHAKMAN: Oh, huge time. It is no shock that Jack Kirby introduced loads of his personal private expertise to creating this comedian, and that is why it is resonated for therefore lengthy. It is an actual household. Jack’s daughter is Sue, proper? I feel there’s an Uncle Ben. Actually, he is drawing from individuals he is aware of and from his expertise rising up on the Decrease East Aspect — that is Yancy Avenue. He is drawing from his personal life, and that quote we picked to finish the movie with is saying that instantly: “All of those characters are a mirrored image of me.” His deeply private strategy to creating these comics is basically, I feel, the easiest way anybody can strategy making a comic book e book film or a comic book e book, which is to carry as a lot of your self as doable. How do these characters relate to me? How do I see them in my on a regular basis life, and making an attempt to carry my life as a husband, as a father, into this? And that is from Jack. I received an opportunity to satisfy his son, Neal, and speak about principally watching his father create these things of their home. It is exceptional how private it truly is.

The Incredible 4: First Steps is now taking part in in theaters and IMAX.