Marvel Studios has reportedly begun the lengthy casting process for its upcoming Fantastic Four movie.
Two and a half years after its initial announcement, the Marvel Phase 4 film appears to have taken a giant step forward, with two prominent leakers alleging that Marvel has started casting for the iconic superhero group.
According to MyTimeToShineHello, who has a proven track record regarding other Marvel Studios projects, took to Twitter to claim that the casting process for the Marvel movie had finally begun.
They just started casting for the Fantastic FourJanuary 12, 2022
Curiously, MyTimeToShineHello's claim was backed up by another leaker – Hendrio Pratama – who posted an unverified breakdown of some upcoming Marvel films, including the Fantastic Four reboot. According to Pratama, two well-known actors are already on board to star in the superhero flick, while Marvel is looking for two relative newcomers to join the roster.
It's unclear who provided Pratama with this rumored information, so we'd suggest taking it with a big pinch of salt for now. But, given MyTimeToShineHello's track record for breaking news on previous Marvel productions, we do think that there has been some movement on the Fantastic Four casting front.
Marvel Studios president Kevin Feige revealed that a Fantastic Four movie was in development in July 2019. Since then, the project's only other major update concerns Jon Watts, with Marvel confirming that the Spider-Man: No Way Home director will helm the Fantastic Four's first MCU adventure.
In other MCU-related news, Eternals – the 26th Marvel movie – finally launched on Disney Plus on January 12. The next MCU flick to arrive in theaters will be Doctor Strange in the Multiverse of Madness, whose six-week long reshoots were recently completed.
Analysis: who will portray the Fantastic Four in the MCU?
Even before Marvel confirmed that a Fantastic Four movie was in development, fans wished to see husband and wife John Krazinski (The Office, A Quiet Place) and Emily Blunt (Jungle Cruise, Mary Poppins) portray Reed Richards and Sue Storm, aka Mr. Fantastic and the Invisible Woman.
With the duo distancing themselves from those calls, though, it seems that fans will have to see who Marvel eventually picks to fulfil those roles. And that's before we get to Johnny Storm and Ben Grimm, also known as the Human Torch and The Thing.
Interestingly, another tweet from MyTimeToShineHello suggests that Marvel Studios has been in touch with Charlize Theron (Mad Max: Fury Road, The Old Guard) and Justin Timberlake (The Social Network, Trolls) about roles in the MCU.
Actors Marvel talked to for MCU roles recently - Charlize Theron and Justin TimberlakeJanuary 5, 2022
Could Timberlake and Theron be the "well-known actors" that Pramata's tweet hints at? It's a bit too coincidental that these two claims were posted online, around the same time no less, and not be related to one another.
In our view, it's a distinct possibility. Timberlake could be cast as Johnny Storm, while Theron would make an excellent Sue Storm. Much depends, though, on whether Marvel wants its MCU incarnation of the Fantastic Four to be established heroes already, or if they want to create the superhero group's third origins story in the last two decades.
Hopefully, it won't be too long before Marvel Studios makes a formal announcement on the Fantastic Four movie casting front. Who knows? They may also be casting for Doctor Doom, Silver Surfer, or even Galactus at this point, too. If Pramata's claims about the studio already hiring two actors for specific roles in the movie, we're crossing our fingers that we'll get official confirmation on the iconic quartet soon.
- Thor: Love and Thunder: everything we know so far
