Fantastic Four Casting Process Teased By Kevin Feige
One of the franchises that has had the hardest time reaching its full potential and expectations within the superhero movie genre is the Fantastic Four. While the superhero team has long been a cornerstone of the Marvel Comics, their film adaptations have been built on a less than sturdy foundation. Since their debut in 2005, however, the bar has been raised in the hero genre thanks to the massive success of the MCU under the leadership of Kevin Feige.
With Marvel Studios set to release their own onscreen adaptation of Marvel's First Family, the scrutiny of the Four has rarely been higher, from cast and production crew, directors and release date, moviegoers are scrounging for any detail they can on the upcoming film. Marvel fans (both comic and film) all have their own opinion on who should play the rolls of Mr. Fantastic, Invisible Woman, Human Torch, and the Thing. With familiar MCU-faces like Chris Evans and Michael B. Jordan having already stepped into the blue suits, the bar has been set high for the casting director and the questions have begun to fly for the president of Marvel Studios, Kevin Feige.
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In a recent interview with comicbook.com, Feige was asked about the casting process and if he could share any insight as to who would be filling these roles. In typical Disney-franchise fashion, his response was cryptic and scarce on details, with him saying in part:
"I think the MCU is a beautiful combination of both established actors and new faces...I think you look no further than Simu in Shang-Chi, like Chris Hemsworth, like Tom Hiddleston, like Tom Holland, an actor that hadn't been seen by a tremendous amount of people before, or you have a Benedict stepping into Doctor Strange or Christian Bale stepping into Gor in our Thor film. It is always a beautiful combination of both, and it really is about the search for the best actor for the job whether that actor is known to the world yet or not."
While fans will have to wait for the release of the newest Thor movie, Love and Thunder, to form their opinions on Bale's Gore, the rest of the actors mentioned have turned out to be fan favorites in the universe. Feige's quote also seems to indicate that MCU is targeting up-and-comers for these roles. This would make plenty of sense for the roles of Human Torch and the Thing as they are traditionally more auxiliary roles on the team, following the lead of Reed and Susan Richards. Which is not to say that the entire team couldn't be fresh faces or Hollywood veterans, rather that if they were to cast established actors, it would most likely be the leaders of the team.
As with any Marvel movie, fan casts have run rampant with the Fantastic Four, the most notable being a wide call for John Krasinski to play Reed Richards. With the movie still in preliminary work, with writers currently being hired by the studio and Spider-Man: Far from Home director Jon Watts penciled in to direct, there will still be a long wait for the premiere and, most likely, any news regarding the Four. When asked about a timeline on casting news during a July interview, Feige was once again tight-lipped saying;
"I don't think it's soon...(Black Widow) is our first red carpet event in two years. We'll see what happens with upcoming gatherings and fan events where we can release more news. I hope sometime in the near future."
This seems to indicate a convention or other large-event announcement. With the current state of the pandemic, we can only hope that these plans stay on track if Feige is indeed eyeing a Comic-Con style announcement. The rumored release year for Fantastic Four, 2023, is certainly shaping up to be the year of Marvel, with three films scheduled to hit theaters in the back half of the year. Marvel has scheduled releases on July 28th, October 6th, and November 10th. With the October release rumored to be the Blade reboot, reintroducing vampires to the MCU just in time for Halloween, all fans of the Four have their eyes set on the other two release dates. No matter when the film premieres and no matter who is cast, expectations are high for the First Family of Marvel and, given the success of previous projects, there is no one better to handle these expectations than Feige and Marvel Studios.
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Source(s): ComicBook.com, Screen Rant