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Christopher Nolan recently proclaimed that the decision to cast Robert Downey Jr. as Tony Stark in “Iron Man” was “one of the most consequential casting decisions ever made in the history of the movie business.”
At the end of this decade, the same could be said for the four actors who were just cast as the titular superheroes of Marvel’s “Fantastic Four”: Pedro Pascal, Vanessa Kirby, Joseph Quinn and Ebon Moss-Bachrach. Like Downey, all of these actors have had recent experience with big-budget productions: Pascal with “The Mandalorian” and “The Last of Us,” Kirby with the two most recent “Mission: Impossible” films, Quinn with “Stranger Things”. and Moss-Bachrach with “Andor.” But, like Downey, neither of them headlined their own studio action blockbuster before signing with Marvel.
Downey, of course, proved to be as electrifying a presence as Iron Man that propelled the Marvel Cinematic Universe for the next 11 years, appearing in 10 films that together earned $12.5 billion at the global box office before Stark died in “Avengers.” ” from 2019. : End of the game.” Since then, Downey’s absence has been keenly felt by Marvel fans, as has the loss of Chris Evans’ Captain America, who also took his (possibly) final bow in “Endgame.” Those two characters served as the yin and yang of the early MCU: Stark, the brash, rakish genius; Cap the stalwart, aw shucks warrior, who became the gravitational center of the franchise. With the Guardians of the Galaxy breaking up, Tom Holland’s Spider-Man and Chris Hemsworth’s Thor taking sabbaticals, and the deaths of Scarlett Johansson’s Black Widow and, tragically, Chadwick Boseman’s Black Panther, Marvel has been suffering for characters who can serve as central protagonists. host of the most successful film franchise in Hollywood history. (With all due respect to Doctor Strange and Ant-Man, they have always worked better as potent side dishes than main dishes.)
These new Fantastic Four could be those characters, as they finally take on the big screen roles they’ve been playing in the comics since Stan Lee and Jack Kirby first devised them in 1961, launching the Marvel universe as we know it. today. Reed Richards (Pascal) and Johnny Storm (Quinn) are like remixes of Stark and Cap: Reed’s Mr. Fantastic as the hardcore genius, and Johnny’s Human Torch as the brash, debauched warrior. Sue’s Invisible Woman becomes one of the most impressive power sets in the Marvel canon, but unlike Captain Marvel or Scarlet Witch, she’s much more grounded, with everyday concerns tied to Earth. And Ben Grimm (Moss-Bachrach) is walking pathos, a tough, good-natured man trapped in The Thing’s seemingly monstrous body of orange rocks: he’s Hulk without the uncontrollable rage and Rocket without the antisocial misanthropy.
Marvel comics readers know that these four characters have been integral parts of the ongoing Marvel universe, often at its center. But while the “Fantastic Four” movies of the 2000s (with Evans playing Johnny) have their charms, it’s fair to say that Marvel’s First Family has never gotten the top-notch film adaptation they deserve. (The less said about the 2015 reboot, the better.) Bringing them into the MCU is a win-win: Marvel gets the core characters it needs, plus the Fantastic Four get a cinematic home worthy of their importance in Marvel history. It certainly doesn’t hurt that Pascal, Kirby, Quinn and Moss-Bachrach are all tremendously talented actors.
However, the most tantalizing thing about Wednesday’s announcement is the shape Marvel did it, with a fun illustration of the actors as their characters celebrating Valentine’s Day. From the retro treatment of the title, to the mid-century modern costumes and furniture, to the fact that Ben seems to be reading In an issue of Life magazine from December 1963, it seems pretty clear that “Fantastic Four” will take place in the 1960s.
More to the point, that suggests that “The Fantastic Four” will exist in a parallel universe separate from the core MCU: If there were a family of space-age superheroes who were contemporaries of Peggy Carter and Howard Stark, we probably would have heard about them by now. Instead, Marvel seems to be using this movie to give itself a literal fresh start, allowing audiences to jump into this movie without necessarily having to know anything about the 50+ MCU titles that will precede it.
Of course, eventually, the Fantastic Four will join the main MCU, most likely in 2027’s “Avengers: Secret Wars,” which (if it follows the story of the 2015 comics of the same name) will involve multiple parallel universes colliding with each other. other. That could lead to a new, semi-rebooted MCU with the Fantastic Four (and the X-Men, as “The Marvels” post-credits scene suggests) at the center.
After the most difficult year in Marvel history, this is fantastic news.