By Chris Revelle | Film | February 14, 2024 |
By Chris Revelle | Film | February 14, 2024 |
You may remember the Fantastic Four, the Marvel superhero team from the 1960s, but if you don’t, here’s the quick and dirty: brilliant scientist Reed Richards, along with his wife Sue Storm, Sue’s brother Johnny, and meatball-with-a-heart-of-gold Ben Grimm, goes into space on a scientific mission and wouldn’t you know it, their spacecraft was struck by cosmic rays that irradiated everyone inside. Being a comic book, this of course gave them spectacular powers: Reed (aka Mr Fantastic) could stretch his body in superhuman ways, Sue (aka the Invisible Woman) could turn invisible and erect forcefields, Johnny (aka the Human Torch) could become a flying being of flame, and Ben (aka the Thing) became an orange rock-man. The comic book was notable for the time because, unlike other supergroups, the Fantastic Four had drama. They would regularly harbor secrets and grudges and engage in all kinds of pettiness and bickering, though they always returned to being a family that loved each other in the end.
Adaptations of the Fantastic Four over the years include multiple cartoon shows, video games (including this very weird one I played religiously as a kid), an unreleased Roger Corman-produced campfest, two infamously goofy movies (starring future Captain America Chris Evans), and Fan4stic, featuring the most infamous re-shoots wigs of all time. While a classic of Marvel’s comic canon, it’s been some time since they’ve been in the spotlight. Rumors of a new Fantastic Four film have been flying steadily for a long while and those were only fueled further when John Krasinski appeared as Reed in Doctor Strange in the Multiverse of Madness. Now, in honor of Valentines’ Day, Marvel Studios has released a big announcement from their “First Family:”
Happy Valentine’s Day from Marvel’s First Family! Pedro Pascal, Vanessa Kirby, Ebon Moss-Bachrach, and Joseph Quinn are The Fantastic Four.
— Fantastic Four (@FantasticFour) February 14, 2024
Marvel Studios' #TheFantasticFour, in theaters July 25, 2025. pic.twitter.com/skPZLqu21h
That’s right! We have a new Fantastic Four coming our way July 25th, 2025. The poster belies the comics’ retro roots and potentially hints at a lighthearted tone. It’s quite a surprising cast with some interesting choices: Pedro Pascal as Reed Richards, Vanessa Kirby as Sue Storm, Joseph Quinn as Johnny Storm, and Ebon Moss-Bacharach as Ben Grimm. While many, including myself, quibbled in the Pajiba Slack about different casting choices, it’s an impressively solid cast overall. I’m particularly surprised by the presence of Moss-Bacharach; Michael Chiklis is the gold standard Thing, but Moss-Bacharach turns out great naturalistic performances no matter if he’s on The Bear or Andor. Vanessa Kirby as Sue is probably my choice for the best casting of the bunch because if Kirby can be one of the most memorable parts of the absolutely bonkers Napoleon, I think she can bring some new vin to Sue as a character. I am sure Pedro Pascal will be fantastic as Reed and far be it from me to wish for less papa Pedro, but I will note that my own dream casting put Rahul Kohli in the role instead. Love the cast or hate it, you can’t deny that there’s quite a bit of talent concentrated there and I’m excited to see where it lands.
It’s interesting how generally older the cast is. In the comics, we saw the foursome grow and develop into older adults and start a family (featuring Franklin Richards the all-powerful baby), so maybe we’ll be starting with the team further along in their journey. As is usually the way, plot details are scant and rumors are plentiful. To this geek’s eye, the rumors about Doctor Doom being the film’s antagonist are the most likely because I’m not sure how you tell a Fantastic Four story without their most classic villain. Doctor Doom is probably the Marvel comics villain I’d most like to be. He’s aristocratic, eloquent, operatic, he wears fantastical power armor, and just when you think he’s been killed, oops! That was just a Doombot impostor. With Marvel wobbling on their backfoot in the wake of Jonathan Majors’ firing (and weirdly fawning interview), Doctor Doom is rumored to be the new Big Bad of the current phase instead of Majors’ Kang the Conquerer. Ben Mendelsohn has thrown his hat into the ring and he would certainly be a welcome addition, but I wonder if his association with the benighted mess Secret Invasion will give Marvel pause.
I’m a fan of Marvel comics who tends to enjoy every third MCU product. For me, Marvel does best when it commits to a different style and vibe for each of its properties and does worst when it insists on a “house style” that renders a property tonally and visually underwhelming. Fantastic Four’s poster seems to indicate a groovy, kitschy retro vibe that strikes me as fitting for a team dreamt up in the ’60s and is just a fun artistic move. One of my favorite Marvel movies, Captain America: The First Avenger, is a fantastic example of how well a superhero story can work within the stylistic trappings of a period piece. Matt Shakman has been tapped as the director, which feels promising given his past directing WandaVision, one of the MCU’s more interesting and experimental releases. With his history in directing episodes of Always Sunny in Philadelphia and Fargo, I expect Shakman can deliver us a movie that takes a big swing or two with flair and fun.
We’ll find out in July 2025 and in the meantime, let’s fantasy cast Doctor Doom if it’s not Mendelsohn. It’s maybe a longshot, but what if they got Mads Mikkelsen? They’d definitely have to get the mask off so we can drink in his brooding face, but he could deliver the European gentry drama queen goods and then some.