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The much-anticipated movie Fantastic Four is slated to hit the screens on May 2, 2025, and the cast is yet to be announced, leading to many speculations and fan wars on social media. While no official statement has come from the studio, rumors about actor Pedro Pascal being finalized to play Mr. Fantastic, aka Reed Richards, have fans erupting in displeasure.
While Pedro is a great actor and has had a longtime connection with Disney, many fans hope to see John Krasinski as Reed Richards. After Krasinski's brief cameo in the third Doctor Strange movie, fans welcomed him as Reed Richards. However, Krasinski has maintained that he was not in talks with the studio about playing the role in the future.
As such, Kevin Feige, president of Marvel Studios, had declared wanting the Fantastic Four franchise to be a pillar of MCU’s future. In an interview with Entertainment Weekly in February 2023, he said that Fantastic Four was the foundation of everything that happened in comics later on. Feige and Studios were excited to take the storytelling in the MCU style.
Disclaimer: This article may contain the author’s opinions.
Fans disappointed with Pedro replacing Krasinski in Fantastic Four
There was a hope for Krasinski fans that he might be reluctant to disclose his future as Mr. Fantastic too soon. However, recent reports about Marvel considering Pascal for the role in the Fantastic Four movie, as per Deadline, have disheartened fans waiting for Krasinski to return to the role.
While some fans have demanded that Krasinski be brought back, others have expressed displeasure with the choice of Pedro Pascal.
Some fans said they respect Pedro as an actor but consider Krasinski more suited for the role of Reed Richards.
A fan had explained on Reddit why Krasinski fit the role of Reed Richards with the attributes of the arrogant scientist taken into consideration.
Pedro Pascal versus John Krasinski in Fantastic Four
Both actors have a wide repertoire of roles across genres in their acting careers. Pedro Pascal has been part of Disney’s Star Wars spinoff, The Mandalorian, as his previous interaction with Disney, the parent company of Marvel Studios.
Deadline reported that the deal between Marvel and Pedro has not been finalized as the actor is busy with The Last of Us season 2 and Gladiator Sequel. On the other hand, John Krasinski had a cameo in Doctor Strange in the Multiverse of Madness, where he played Reed Richards, giving fans the hope that the role belonged to him moving forward.
However, he declared to his fans that besides the said cameo, he has had no talks with the studio about reprising the role in the Fantastic Four movie. The character of Reed Richards has been reprised by Ioan Gruffud and Miles Teller before this.
Few things that did not work for John Krasinski’s Reed Richards
Unfortunately for Krasinski, the cameo did not leave much screen space for the talented actor for character development. As such, the highly intelligent scientist Reed Richards was seen to spill the beans in front of the manipulative Scarlet Witch in a quick blunder. Despite being “the smartest man alive,” his blunder comes to the forefront in the movie.
To top it off, he is eliminated too soon by the powerful magic of the witch without getting much opportunity to showcase his powers. Most viewers felt this was neither plausible for the character nor gave John the chance to prove himself in the role. While Mr. Fantastic of Earth-838 is killed, his variants in the other timelines are supposed to exist.
A larger problem with Krasinski’s Reed happened when showrunner Sam Raimi announced that Krasinski was signed in to portray the role of Mr. Fantastic since fans had suggested him. This gave the impression that the studio had not picked him for being the right fit but just for fan service.
As such, the brevity of the cameo, Reed's weakness in front of Wanda, and Raimi’s statement spoilt the Krasinski-Reed combination.
Final thoughts on the upcoming Fantastic Four movie
Besides Reed Richards, the cast for the other characters, Susan Storm, The Human Torch, and The Thing, are also awaiting official announcement. The movie is to be directed by Matt Shakman, who took over the helm from Jon Watts after he exited the movie.
While Marvel has not responded to any query about the cast yet, the tentative date for the release of the Fantastic Four movie remains on May 2, 2025.
