While rumours have been flying around about who would finally be playing the Fantastic Four in Matt Shakman’s highly anticipated reboot of Marvel’s First Family, Disney gave fans a Valentine’s Day treat and confirmed the full cast this morning.
Here is the full list:
Pedro Pascal: Reed Richard (Mr. Fantastic)
Vanessa Kirby: Sue Storm (The Invisible Woman)
Joseph Quinn: Johnny Storm (The Human Torch)
Ebon Moss-Bachrach: Ben Grimm (The Thing)
Disney made the announcement on Instagram:
All four actors have been heavily rumored for their respective roles. While Kirby and Pascal are well-known due to The Crown and The Mandalorian, this is poised to be a potentially star-making role for Quinn, who’s risen to fame quickly since playing Eddie Munson on Stranger Things. Ebon Moss-Bachrach plays Richie (cousin!) on The Bear and recently nabbed his first Emmy. Matt Shakman previously helmed Disney Plus’s MCU series, WandaVision, their first (and best) show since the pivot to streaming. Recently, Bob Iger announced a shift in priorities for Disney after a disastrous 100th anniversary year, with fewer films and better quality control. The most recent MCU film, The Marvels, didn’t even make $100 million domestically, while Ant-Man and the Wasp: Quantumania was also considered a financial and critical misfire.
Granted, the Fantastic Four has been a notoriously difficult property for Hollywood to get right. In 1994, Roger Corman produced a cheapskate version of the film that never got (officially) released, while the Tim Story/mid-2000s Fox films were also seen as disappointing (although the first film did well enough to get a sequel). In 2015, Fox tried to reboot the franchise with a gritty version directed by Chronicle‘s Josh Trank. It was a financial and critical disaster.
Hopefully, Shakman can finally give the Fantastic Four the big-screen franchise launcher they deserve.
What do you think of the cast? Let us know in the comments.