I guess I should, briefly, tackle this. It’s not even confirmed, but, hungry for just about anything on a slow news day, the trades have pounced on this.
Daniel Richtman had initially reported that Pedro Pascal was in talks to play Reed Richards in the upcoming ‘Fantastic Four’ reboot. Deadline, Variety and THR have now confirmed Richtman’s reporting.
Pascal is indeed in talks to play Richards, but it’ll depend on if he can clear up his busy schedule for the movie. Jake Gylenhaal and Adam Driver are said to have also had talks, to play Richards, before Pascal finally set in as the frontrunner.
Pascal is a very busy man. He’s going to be shooting “Gladiator 2,” “The Last of Us” and Zach Cregger’s “Weapons” on top of starring as Richards in “Fantastic Four.” There was also a rumor that he might star in Ari Aster’s “Eddington.”
Marvel’s ‘Fantastic Four’ was supposed to start shooting next January. It’s since been delayed due to the strike. It does still plan to start production sometime in 2024. A May 2025 is set for the movie. This is the big MCU reboot that Marvel fans have been anticipating. It remains to be seen if it’ll be a successful one.
There’s been an inordinate amount of rumors as to who has been cast in the reboot. Pascal is the only one who seems to be almost of a sure thing. Other actors heavily rumored include John Krasinski, Paul Mescal, Vanessa Kirby and Joseph Quinn.
Director Matt Shakman is attached to this F4 relaunch. He produced and directed Disney’s “WandaVision” and has directed episodes of “The Great”, “It's Always Sunny in Philadelphia”, “Fargo” and “Game of Thrones”. Basically, he’s the perfect candidate to be controlled by the Marvel machine.