The rumors of Mila Kunis playing The Thing in Marvel's Fantastic Four movie sounded a little too wild to be true at first, and the actress has basically confirmed that's the case. Still, for those who weren't aware, it appears that Matt Shakman's Fantastic Four is willing to rethink Ben Grimm, aka The Thing.
Leaker @MyTimeToShineH, who is known to have a decent record of breaking entertainment news before it makes it to the press, started this conversation. In a Wednesday (April 28th) tweet, the leaker wrote "They are looking at Jewish actors, both male AND female for The Thing in Fantastic Four. Mila Kunis is one of them."
This is the first we'd heard of consideration for doing a gender-swap for The Thing, but the rest of the claim checks out, as Ben Grimm is famously Jewish. And, then, Kunis debunked the story on one of the final episodes of The James Corden Show.
Watch for yourself:
This is Mila's response in a new interview by the way: pic.twitter.com/wU4nRZuazH https://t.co/prVeri5vINApril 29, 2023
Corden, who suggested that the rumor is Kunis cast as The Invisible Woman Sue Storm, asked for some clarity about the situation. Kunis replied "apparently if you go to lunch with somebody who is also in the industry, you then start working together according to the internet."
After elaborating that she had gone to lunch with Matt Shakman, the director of the upcoming Marvel movie, Kunis fully debunked the rumor saying "I am not in Fantastic Four, but I know who is. But I don't want to get in trouble with The Mouse [Disney], so none of you will find out!"
Analysis: The other Fantastic Four casting rumors
This debunking of @MyTimeToShineH's rumor isn't a total killer for the situation, as the speculation was only that she was under consideration. Kunis saying she's not in the movie isn't exactly something to bank on, as she could still wind up being in it somehow. As she noted, she doesn't want to spill secrets that Disney and Marvel Studios wouldn't want her to leak.
The leaker also posits that a Sue actress is selected, but not final, writing "I'm not saying who is because she already passed once so it's not final. I'm being very careful with this one."
And if @MyTimeToShineH's intel is correct, there is a bit of bad news for the movie, as they posted "No Doctor Doom in Fantastic Four at least not in a big role." This would kick the tin can suit of Victor Von Doom down the line to a later date.
There's one other big Fantastic Four cast rumor currently, as Adam Driver — according to insider Daniel Richtman and Above the Line’s Jeff Sneider — is in serious talks to play Reed Richards. This casting makes visual sense in our heads.
