Marvel Studios Finally Confirms ‘Fantastic Four’ Cast
Marvel has finally landed on its main cast for the highly anticipated Fantastic Four movie, and and it’s star-laden.
Variety has confirmed that Pedro Pascal will be playing the group’s leader, Reed Richards AKA Mr. Fantastic, Vanessa Kirby will play Reed’s partner, Sue Storm AKA Invisible Woman, Ebon Moss-Bachrach will play Ben Grimm AKA The Thing, and Joseph Quinn will play Sue’s younger brother Johnny Storm AKA The Human Torch.
The casting resembles a slight departure from Marvel’s usual casting process — the studio usually prefers to cast unknowns or up-and-comers for these large roles, but it’s gone slightly more name recognition this time — Pedro Pascal is well known for his roles in The Last of Us, The Mandalorian and Game of Thrones, Vanessa Kirby is known for her work on The Crown and the Mission Impossible franchise, Ebon Moss-Bachrach recently shot to stardom with his role on The Bear, while Joseph Quinn became beloved by Stranger Things fans after his crowd-pleasing performance as Eddie Munson.
The casting announcements for Kirby and Quinn had been rumored six months ago, while reports of Pedro Pascal’s casting surfaced back in November 2023.
Along with the casting announcements, Disney has announced that Fantastic Four will now release on July 25, 2025, with Thunderbolts taking its previous release date of May 2, 2025. This will give the film a little bit more breathing room for principal photography, given that Pedro Pascal is currently busy filming season 2 of The Last of Us and can’t start on Fantastic Four right away.
Matt Shakman (It’s Always Sunny in Philadelphia, WandaVision) has long been attached to direct and the script was rewritten just under a year ago by Josh Friedman (Avatar: The Way of Water), so that stability should mean Marvel are well prepared before shooting begins.
While we know very little about the story, it has been reported that the film will likely skip the Fantastic Four‘s origin story, which was adapted in the little-loved 2005 movie and its failed 2015 reboot. It’s also been reported that the film’s villain will be Galactus, which seems a remarkably strong villain for the group’s first MCU outing. Yet, the age of the actors cast suggest that Marvel wants its Fantastic Four to be pretty experienced when it comes to superheroing, so perhaps the challenge will feel more natural than it seems at first glance.
Marvel’s reputation has taken a hit recently, but they’ll be hoping that these recognizable faces will help restore faith in its flagging franchise.
Josh is a huge a fan of Star Wars, superheroes and video games. He spends most of his time wondering who would win in a fight between Boba Fett and Star Lord.
