Fantastic Four casting rumors have been heating up the internet. Of course, there have been fan favorites and surprise suggestions thrown out to play Marvel’s First Family. With multiple casting rumors floating around, a new Fantastic Four rumor claimed a popular Reed Richards choice isn’t involved with the movie after all.
Multiple A-list actors have come up when casting the Marvel superhero team’s de-facto leader. Casting Mr. Fantastic has proven hard for MCU despite fan-favorite John Krasinski popping up as a Reed Richards alternate in Doctor Strange and the Multiverse of Madness. While Krasinski appeared in the movie, he hasn’t been announced as the top choice. However, another rumored contender reportedly passed on the coveted role: Adam Driver. According to the YouTube series The Hot Mic. The streaming series said about the alleged development:
This contradicts some stuff some we've put out there in the past, but I’m not afraid to share it. This comes from someone reportedly working on the Fantastic Four movie. They said that Adam Driver was never really engaged in this. They sent Adam Driver the script a while back and he said that he couldn't connect with the character on the page, and he passed very early on.
So, the Adam Driver rumors might be false. Unfortunately, the Oscar-nominated actor was never put out there as a potential frontrunner for Mr. Fantastic. This rumor contradicted fan art portraying Driver as Doctor Doom following his time as Kylo Ren. However, given the stoic characters he gravitates toward, casting him as Reed might make sense. The alleged script wasn’t up to his standards if he reportedly passed on playing the Fantastic Four’s ever-present father figure. He might get on board with the intriguing way the MCU will use Doctor Doom.
Casting Reed Richards is a tricky one as an actor must play a believable leader. Outside of Adam Driver and John Krasinski, the show alleged the source brought up Oppenheimer star Josh Hartnett as a potential Reed Richards. Josh Hartnett has been slowly creeping back onto Hollywood’s A-list with the success of the blockbuster biopic and his Black Mirror episode. Even You star Penn Badgley was imagined as a probable Mr. Fantastic through some fan art.
However, the real lynchpin in the Fantastic Four casting has been Sue Storm as the movie is reportedly looking to cast her over her team members first. Similar to Reed Richards, multiple A-list actresses were brought up to play the Invisible Woman. Of course, fans have long proposed Emily Blunt as Richard’s spouse (in a package deal with real-life husband John Krasinski). She’s shot down the rumors several times. Other big names like Mission: Impossible star Vanessa Kirby and Barbie’s Margot Robbie were tossed in as possible Sue Richards. Kirby addressed the rumors while fan art transformed Robbie into the Invisible Woman. Even the Human Torch has proved difficult to cast as potential frontrunner Paul Mescal may already be out due to scheduling conflicts.
With the writers and actors’ strike grinding Hollywood to a halt, casting the Fantastic Four might not happen for some time. The MCU adaptation is still set to arrive in theaters on May 2, 2025. In the meantime, look out for upcoming Marvel movies coming down the pipeline with The Marvels opening in movie cinemas on November 10.
