New Fantastic Four Was Inspired by Spider-Man Trilogy, Says Marvel Producer

Despite having premiered in the early 2000s, Sam Raimi’s Spider-Man trilogy continues to influence the superhero genre, with The Fantastic Four: First Steps becoming the latest beneficiary of the Tobey Maguire-led movies. In a recent interview, Grant Curtis, who has headed several Marvel projects as a producer, reaffirmed this notion by revealing that Raimi’s Spider-Man flicks had much impact on the making of the upcoming Fantastic Four film.

How Sam Raimi’s Spider-Man movies inspired The Fantastic Four: First Steps

During a recent conversation, the veteran MCU producer expressed how Sam Raimi and The Fantastic Four: First Steps director Matt Shakman have multiple things in common when it comes to adapting comic books to feature-length movies.

Grant Curtis stated to Collider, “One of the beauties of that and that I see in Matt Shakman is Sam always went back to the source material and said, ‘there’s a reason why Peter Parker and Spider-Man has been so popular for so long,’ and we have nothing to do with that 50 plus years at that time.”

Comparing Raimi’s Spider-Man projects with Shakman’s Fantastic Four movie, Curtis then doubled down on how both filmmakers prioritize maintaining the authenticity of their respective source materials. “Matt always looked at it the same way. There’s a reason this IP has been popular for 60 years. Let’s embrace it, let’s not run from it. Let’s challenge our screenwriters to tell the coolest Galactus story,” the Marvel executive remarked.

In addition to explaining the influence of Tobey Maguire’s Spider-Man movies, Curtis also noted that The Fantastic Four: First Steps also draws much inspiration from “what Stanley Kubrick did in the ’60s.” The movie shares parallels with yet another science fiction juggernaut, with Shakman’s Fantastic Four having a similar theme about family and optimism as the Star Trek franchise.

Serving as the first entry in the MCU’s Phase Six, The Fantastic Four: First Steps marches into theaters on July 25, 2025.

Originally reported by Apoorv Rastogi on SuperHeroHype.

Source: Comingsoon.net