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Marvel Studios has its “Fantastic Four”.
The superhero quartet, the first characters created for Marvel Comics by Stan Lee and Jack Kirby, will be played by Pedro Pascal as Reed Richards (aka Mr. Fantastic), Vanessa Kirby as Sue Storm (aka the Invisible Woman), Joseph Quinn as Johnny Storm (aka Human Torch) and Ebon Moss-Bachrach as Ben Grimm (aka The Thing).
As part of the casting announcement, Disney swapped the release dates for “Fantastic Four” (now scheduled for July 25, 2025) and “Thunderbolts” (now scheduled for May 2, 2025). These are two of four big Marvel releases currently set to open in 2025, along with “Captain America: Brave New World” in February and “Blade” in November. Four Marvel movies are also scheduled for 2026, including “Avengers: The Kang Dynasty.” That’s an increase from 2024: Marvel only has “Deadpool & Wolverine” in theaters, July 26.
As usual with Marvel, story details remain scarce. But in the comics, the Fantastic Four are astronauts who become superheroes after being exposed to cosmic rays in space. Reed gains the ability to stretch his body to astonishing lengths. Sue, Reed’s girlfriend (and eventual wife), can manipulate light to become invisible and cast powerful force fields. Sue’s brother Johnny can turn her body into fire, giving her the ability to fly. And Ben, Reed’s best friend, is totally transformed into, well, a Thing, with giant orange rocks for a body, giving him super strength, and a heart perpetually saddened by his seemingly monstrous appearance.
Matt Shakman (“WandaVision,” “Monarch: Legacy of Monsters”) will direct “Fantastic Four,” from a script by Josh Friedman, Jeff Kaplan and Ian Springer. News of Pascal’s casting first leaked in November, but Marvel had tried to keep tight control over who would play Marvel’s First Family, widely considered one of the most important superhero characters ever created. Filming is expected to begin in the summer.
Pascal, one of Hollywood’s most in-demand actors, will likely first film season 2 of HBO’s “The Last of Us” before getting into shape to play Richards. After several notable performances on British television, Quinn broke out as the cunning and heartbreaking Eddie Munson in the fourth season of “Stranger Things.” And Moss-Bachrach recently won an Emmy for his portrayal of Richard “Richie” Jerimovich on FX’s “The Bear.”
Kirby, who first rose to fame as Princess Margaret in “The Crown” before earning an Oscar nomination for her performance in 2020’s “Pieces of a Woman,” previously teased her desire to take on the role of Invisible Woman. “It would be an honor to play Sue Storm,” Kirby said. Variety at the premiere of “Mission: Impossible – Dead Reckoning Part One” in 2023. “She is incredible.”
However, until now the Fantastic Four had not been part of the Marvel Cinematic Universe. The film rights belonged to 20th Century Fox, which produced three films featuring the characters. “Fantastic Four” and “Fantastic Four: Rise of the Silver Surfer,” released in 2005 and 2007 respectively, starred Ioan Gruffudd as Reed, Jessica Alba as Sue, Michael Chiklis as Ben and Chris Evans, before Captain America. , like Johnny. . Fox’s attempt to reboot the franchise in 2015, with Miles Teller, Kate Mara, Jamie Bell and Michael B. Jordan in the respective roles, was a critical and box office failure. Four years later, Disney acquired 21st Century Fox and finally brought the characters into the Marvel Studios sandbox.
The MCU first saw Reed Richards in 2022’s “Doctor Strange in the Multiverse of Madness,” when John Krasinski played a multiverse variant of the character in a cameo, as a nod to an online fan campaign to cast him in the role. .
Typically, the central villain of the Fantastic Four is Victor von Doom, one of the most important and fearsome villains in the Marvel canon. But Marvel has yet to announce who the quartet will fight in this film.
However, by anointing the full quartet, Marvel Studios is securing the new anchor for the MCU, following the departures of Evans’ Steve Rogers and Robert Downey Jr.’s Tony Stark in “Avengers: Endgame.”