'The Fantastic Four: First Steps' Writer Eric Pearson Talks 15 Years With Marvel Studios
Image Source: IMDb
If you ever feel frustrated in your job, just remember that Eric Pearson had to watch Captain America: The First Avenger in five-minute chunks for a whole week to find spots where additional lines of dialogue could be added in ADR after the movie was more or less done.
This was one of Pearson's first jobs after joining the Marvel Writers Program nearly 15 years ago. Since then, the man has become the go-to writer for the MCU, working on the scripts for blockbusters like Thor: Ragnarok, Black Widow, Thunderbolts*, and Fantastic Four: First Steps, as well as for the short-lived TV show Agent Carter.
After starting with a not-so-filling job at Dreamworks, he was thinking about leaving Hollywood and going back to Massachusetts, before finally landing a job at Marvel.
In an interview with the Hollywood Reporter, Person looks back at his time with the superhero powerhouse.
Pearson's audition process for the Writers Program took no less than seven months because Kevin Feige always canceled the final meeting shortly before it could happen, due to more pressing matters. When Pearson finally got to tell the Marvel Studios boss his pitch, Feige's only comment was “How much more is left to this?”. Still, Peason got the job on the same day.
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A Line On The Spot
One day while shooting Agent Carter, Peason was called on set, because they needed an additional line for Hayley Atwell after a fight scene. Everyone was waiting to continue shooting, and Peason came up with a line on the spot that everyone was happy with and which ended up in the final scene.
Ragnarok On Christmas Eve
Peason's first big writing gig for Marvel was Thor: Ragnarok. His agent texted him on Christmas Eve, asking if he was interested, but there was one catch: The script had to be complete by February 22.
Gimme A Break
After the massive success of Ragnarok, Pearson signed up for another project, but got in over his head and ultimately couldn't figure it out. So he asked for a three-month break to sort things out before returning to Marvel.
Getting Nearly Killed By The Black Widow
While working on Black Widow in 2020, COVID struck, and O-T Fagbenle (who played Natasha’s ally Mason) got sick, so Pearson had to read his lines with Scarlett Johansson, but when he started to improvise and deviate from the script, the actress shot him a look that said: “You know I could kill you. Not physically kill you, but I could embarrass you with my talent. And I‘m choosing not to because I‘m your friend.”
Surfer Girl
When working on the script for First Steps, Peason had the idea that the Silver Surfer (played by Julia Garner) and Jonny should meet on a beach on Tahiti because Shalla-Bal's homeworld could be a water planet, she had been an actual surfer, and the beach reminded her of her home planet. But Peason admits that this would probably have added too many layers of connection to Earth.
With Kevin Feige finally acknowledging Peason's talent, saying that “He brings both humor, stakes, and emotion, which you need in Marvel,” the 40-year-old is far from being done with Marvel and is rumored to be working on Blade next, which he refuses to comment on.
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