Rumors about who will star in Marvel Studios’ upcoming Fantastic Four reboot have swelled for years. Many had hoped that John Krasinski and his real-life wife Emily Blunt would star as Reed Richards and Sue Storm. While that didn’t come to pass, Krasinski was able to play a variant of Reed Richards in Doctor Strange in the Multiverse of Madness.
However, casting began to pick up last spring when a slew of actors were rumored, including Adam Driver, Margot Robbie, Paul Mescal, and Daveed Diggs. While none of the actors came to sign on before the SAG-AFTRA strike of last summer, one thing was sure: Director Matt Shakman (Monarch, WandaVision) was adamant about a Jewish actor playing Ben Grimm (like in the comics). Following the strike, we got confirmation that both Pedro Pascal (The Last of Us, The Mandalorian) and Vanessa Kirby (The Crown, Napoleon) were the frontrunners for Reed Richards and Sue Storm. We also heard that Joseph Quinn (Stranger Things, Gladiator 2) and Ebon Moss-Bachrach (The Bear, The Punisher) were rumored for Johnny Storm and Ben Grimm. They have all officially signed to star as Marvel’s first family in the upcoming reboot.
While the original Fantastic Four films of the early 2000s were not highly rated critically, many have come to love the casting of the main stars. The 2005 cast included Ioan Gruffudd, Jessica Alba, Chris Evans, and Michael Chiklis. Unfortunately, those films failed miserably to portray Doctor Doom (played by Julian McMahon) as the complex villain he deserved, but the main cast’s family dynamic has always been praised. This reboot in the MCU is expected to only hint at Doom (rumored to be played by Mads Mikkelsen), while Galactus is expected to be the first film’s main villain. The 2015 dark and gritty reboot from director Josh Trank was also extremely underwhelming; it’s not even worth mentioning further. It will be interesting to see how this third (technically fourth) attempt at the Fantastic Four can expand on their classic story but still bring something new and exciting to audiences. Production begins later this year in the UK.
Fantastic Four is slated to hit theaters on May 2nd, 2025
Happy Valentine’s Day from Marvel’s First Family! Pedro Pascal, Vanessa Kirby, Ebon Moss-Bachrach, and Joseph Quinn are The Fantastic Four.
Marvel Studios’ #TheFantasticFour, in theaters July 25, 2025. pic.twitter.com/dOmLG0m7ie
— Marvel Studios (@MarvelStudios) February 14, 2024
