“We Had Sets.” And Then… Nothing.
You ever have a job that looked perfect on paper? Big budget, legacy IP, loyal fanbase, tons of goodwill—and then, just as you're settling in… everything goes sideways?
That's pretty much what happened to Matt Shakman and Star Trek 4.
Three years ago, this guy was lined up to direct the next entry in Paramount's long-suffering Kelvin Timeline—aka the one where Chris Pine does his best Shatner-with-empathy. And by all accounts, things were moving. Stages? Built. Crew? Hired. Momentum? Real.
And then?
Gone. Ghosted. Imploded like a neutron star made of broken promises.
Trek Lost a Director. Marvel Gained One.
Here's what went down, according to Shakman himself in a new interview with Variety tied to the July 19 release of The Fantastic Four: First Steps (yeah, it's out this weekend—though God help anyone who actually remembers all the FF reboots at this point).
He says he was deep into Trek. Not just outlining vibes on a napkin at brunch. Real, physical progress:
“We had stages, we had crew, we were moving ahead.”
Then Marvel called. “Hey,” they said (probably in that smug, Disney-knows-you'll-say-yes tone), “want to pitch Fantastic Four?”
He pitched. They loved it. He signed.
Meanwhile, the Trek movie was apparently unraveling faster than a third act rewrite. Shakman says the whole thing “changed dramatically.” Which in Hollywood speak usually means “the studio lost interest, funding, or all sense of direction.”
Crew? Let go. Sets? Torn down. Start date? Scrapped like unused B-roll.
The Real Tragedy? It Might've Been Good.
I'm not gonna lie—I haven't cared about a Star Trek movie since maybe… Into Darkness? (And even that was hanging on Cumberbatch's cheekbones and pure nostalgia fumes.)
But Shakman, post-WandaVision, seemed like the kind of weird, stylish, slightly unhinged energy the franchise desperately needed. He understood spectacle but wasn't married to formula. And if he really had the infrastructure up and running, maybe—just maybe—we were robbed of something bold.
He's still holding onto the bones of it, too:
“The core idea, I think, remains the same. I really hope they get a chance to make that movie.”
Which is kind of adorable. And also sad. Because spoiler: they won't. Paramount's been rearranging the Trek movie division like it's cursed Tetris. Nobody's blinking.
So What Now? Marvel Wins, Again.
Shakman jumped from one cinematic corpse to a probably-better-paying, slightly-safer, still-extremely-chaotic superhero gig. A no-brainer if you're a working director who wants your film to actually exist.
And while I don't envy him—steering Fantastic Four in a post-Multiverse of Madness, post-everybody's-bored-with-Marvel world sounds like an ulcer waiting to happen—I respect the move.
Look, it's 2025. If you're choosing between a maybe-someday-Star Trek and a definitely-happening-Fantastic Four, you take the one that pays today.
Even if it means leaving behind a starship already halfway built.
