Vanessa Kirby Frontrunner For Sue Storm in Marvel Studios 'Fantastic Four'

Marvel Studios was hard at work trying to lock down the four lead actors in their upcoming Fantastic Four reboot prior to the SAG actors strike. The original actors that director Matt Shakman envisioned in his film featured Adam Driver, Margot Robbie, Paul Mescal, and Daveed Diggs as Reed Richards, Sue Storm, Johnny Storm, and Ben Grimm. However, all passed on the roles due to scheduling conflicts or not “connecting to the character,” according to Adam Driver on The Hot Mic podcast.

During the press tours for Mission Impossible: Dead Reckoning, actress Vanessa Kirby (Mission Impossible, The Crown) was rumored to be up for the role of Sue. When asked, the actress played coy, simply smiling, stating she “would love to play the character Sue Storm.” The story began picking up steam with Jeff Sneider recently confirming on Above the Line she is indeed up for the role. Actresses Jessica Alba and Kate Mara played the character in 2005 and 2015.

Now, our friends over at Murphy’s Multiverse have confirmed that the actress signed on to the role before the SAG strike. The studio may have simply waited for the other leads to sign on before announcing all four. However, due to the actor’s strike, no actor (at least those a part of the SAG) can sign onto a new project. Finally, Stranger Things superstar Joseph Quinn has also been rumored for the role of Johnny Storm, though he has not signed on.

Fantastic Four is currently slated to hit theaters on May 2nd, 2025