Director Matt Shakman, known for his work on the hit comedy series It’s Always Sunny in Philadelphia, is set to take on the Marvel Cinematic Universe’s long-anticipated Fantastic Four film. As he gears up for this monumental project, Shakman reflects on how his experiences with the irreverent gang at Paddy’s Pub have influenced his creative process and approach to storytelling.
In a recent interview with ComicBook, Shakman delved into how working on It’s Always Sunny in Philadelphia has been a crucial factor in shaping his creative perspective. He emphasized the necessity of embracing both playfulness and precision in the filmmaking process. The unique combination of these elements, as embodied by the chaotic yet meticulously crafted humor of the Paddy’s Pub gang, has left a lasting mark on Shakman’s creative DNA.
Shakman highlighted the delicate balance between playfulness and precision, emphasizing the need for a director to maintain a childlike curiosity while adhering to a rigorous approach. This duality, he suggests, is essential not just in comedy but in any creative endeavor, and it is a philosophy he brings with him into every project, including the highly-anticipated Fantastic Four film.
He explained: “I’ve learned so much from working on It’s Always Sunny over the years. Those guys bring a unique combination of playfulness and precision, and I think you have to have both of those things in everything you make. You have to still be a kid in the sandbox playing and inventing, but you also have to be rigorous about what you’re doing and comedy is even more rigorous than anything else. The precision of making something funny is often way harder than making something really complicated with special effects work. So playfulness and precision.”
The director shared insights into the improvisational nature of It’s Always Sunny in Philadelphia and how it has become a driving force in his creative process. The show’s emphasis on the “Yes, and” rule of improv—where each participant accepts and builds upon the contributions of others—has become a guiding principle for Shakman. This collaborative spirit, according to him, is the essence of creativity and the key to successful collaborations, whether on a large-scale project like Monarch: Legacy of Monsters or a much smaller project like It’s Always Sunny.
He added: “And there’s so much improv on that show that the rule of improv, which maybe you’ve heard when you do improv, is you say yes and. If you’re in an improv skit with somebody, you say, ‘Well, I’m a doctor,’ and they go, ‘No, you’re not.’ It’s over. What do you do? And that rule of improv is such a good thing for the creative process. Yes and Yes, I like what you’re bringing. Now let’s also do that plus this.
Shakman went on to discuss how the spirit of collaboration and improvisation from his time with the Always Sunny crew has “infected” all of his future works. The openness to new ideas, the willingness to play with the unexpected, and the ability to build upon each other’s contributions have become important aspects of his directorial style.
He said: “I think, the essence of collaboration and it’s how I think anything good, whether it’s a giant awesome show like Monarch that’s made across continents, or whether it’s something, Paddy’s Pub made for two nickels with four or five people. So that spirit infects, I think, or informs, I should say, everything that I do.”
I hope that as Shakman takes the helm of the Fantastic Four, we can expect to see a unique blend of irreverent playfulness and meticulous precision in bringing Marvel’s first family to the big screen. His background in comedy, honed on the set of It’s Always Sunny in Philadelphia, promises to infuse the film with a refreshing and dynamic energy.
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