Eric Pearson is one of the writers behind 'The Fantastic Four: First Steps' Rodin Eckenroth/Getty Images for Disney Share on Facebook Share on X Share to Flipboard Send an Email Show additional share options Share on LinkedIn Share on Pinterest Share on Reddit Share on Tumblr Share on Whats App Print the Article Post a Comment Logo text Screenwriter Eric Pearson once spent an entire week watching Captain America: The First Avenger in five-minute increments. His mission: find split-second moments in which star Chris Evans could add lines such as "head to the base!" during ADR to help tie the movie together. Massaging dialogue into a movie that's essentially completed is considered grunt work for a screenwriter. There's no opportunity to really shape the story, and for Pearson, there would be no credit. But the scribe, then an up-and-coming employee of Marvel's Writers Program, had the mantra that there was no such thing as grunt work when it came to writing. He was just thrilled someone was actually paying him to do it. Related Stories Movies Box Office Milestone: 'Superman' Becomes First DC Pic in Years to Soar Past $300M Domestically Movies 'Fantastic Four' Box Office: 'First Steps' Pacing for $120M-$125M Launch in Notable Win for Marvel Nearly 15 years later, Pearson is now a go-to writer for Marvel, penning Thor: Ragnarok, Black Widow, Thunderbolts*, The Fantastic Four: First Steps and its potential Blade movie (which he declined to discuss). He has also dabbled in TV, working on Marvel and ABC's short-lived but well-loved Captain America spinoff Agent Carter. "He was on set. He was in the editing room. He gave notes on visual effects," says co-showrunner Tara Butters of Pearson. But perhaps his greatest superpower was connecting with actors. (Much of his career has been spent on set, writing lines on the fly.) "He's always constantly trying to help them be the best version of the character," says Butters. As evidence of the actors' affection toward Pearson, Butters shared a birthday photo of Pearson after she and lead Hailey Atwell wrapped his entire office in wrapping paper. Marvel Studios boss Kevin Feige previously told THR, "He brings both humor, stakes and emotion, which you need in Marvel." Pearson has also dabbled into other universes, penning Paramount and Hasbro's Transformers: One, as well as Legendary's Godzilla vs. Kong. Legendary film boss Mary Parent believes that he could one day become a director, should he choose. "He deeply understands tone and even his most fantastical ideas are always born out of character and infused with humanity," says Parent. "Some of my most memorable moments with Eric involve our shared love of Mike and Ike candy. One day he excitedly showed up with Root Beer flavored ones, which I didn't know even existed, and for a while we became convinced they were our problem-solving superfood. We still laugh about it." The afternoon after the Hollyood premiere of Fantastic Four, Pearson met with THR to look back at growing up at Marvel, how the success of Thor: Ragnarok briefly set him down the wrong path, and to dive into the process of First Steps. Your first job in Hollywood was as a reader at DreamWorks. I imagine it's a lot of bad scripts and a few good ones. There was one that was good. It was called Untitled New York Thriller. It was the story of a cabbie down on his luck who picks up a hitman. It became Collateral. (Screenwriter) Stuart Beattie and I were on a panel recently and I told him. I found the coverage and sent it to him. I wrote at it 24, judging him and breaking it down. (Laughs.) Was the DreamWorks gig enough to pay the bills or did you have other gigs? They were paying a $100 a script. It was incredible. But it only lasted a year. They told me that I wasn't the DreamWorks voice. From there, I was a pizza delivery guy. I worked at the Laemmle Sunset 5. I really started going into debt once I lost the DreamWorks job. By the time you're 28 or 29, you're like, "I don't know how to do anything else." You start looking at jobs to apply to. You're like, "No one will hire me. I only have this as an option." You wrote a spec that got you an agent, but were thinking of leaving Hollywood and going back home to Massachusetts before you eventually landed in the Marvel Writers Program, designed to bring young writers into the studio. How'd you get that job? I got that job after a seven-month audition process, because Kevin just had to keep canceling the final pitch. I would drive down to Manhattan Beach, but maybe 10 minutes before, would get a call. "So, Kevin had to cancel." Because it's the lowest priority thing. You finally get to pitch Kevin Feige in 2010 after seven months, and ... The only thing Kevin said during the whole pitch is, "How much more is left to this?" And I said, we're "in the second to last scene." And he goes, "great." (Laughs.) I finished and I got the job later that day. What was a typical day like at Marvel like? I was in at nine and left at