I don’t know how he will fit in the role, but I have no doubt about his talents. The MCU executives have been rumored to have at long last picked the first casting choice for the Fantastic Four film, and the new actor is…
I’m cautiously optimistic with this casting rumor.
After a long time of speculation, rejections, and some of the most outlandish casting matches, the MCU has been reported to have finally come to a decision on who to cast for Reed Richards/Mr. Fantastic for the upcoming Fantastic Four film. And, as he always seems to somehow get, Pedro Pascal has been reported to have snagged the top role.
So, I don’t want this article to come off as if I don’t like Pedro Pascal as an actor as that really couldn’t be further from the truth as I found him to be GREAT in Game of Thrones as Oberyn Martell, The Mandalorian as Mando, Narcos as Javier Pena, and even The Last of Us as Joel Miller…which is really a testament to his acting capabilities as he looks NOTHING like the video game character.
Pedro Pascal is a very competent actor and when given a great part, he can bring that character to life and then some.
But that question about Pascal and Joel Miller in The Last of Us goes double for Reed Richards. Not only does Pedro Pascal look absolutely NOTHING like Mr. Fantastic from the comics or any of the adaptations, but Pascal also hasn’t had a high-profile role even remotely similar to Mr. Fantastic. Mr. Fantastic is a genius and master physicists, biologist, and chemist, while also being a very calm, stoic, and really rather isolated/detached leader of the Fantastic Four team.
In truth, the closest role I can think of that Pascal has played who can compare to Reed Richards is probably Maxwell Lord from Wonder Woman 1984. And that may be one of the worst performances from an actor I’ve ever seen, so there’s that.
I’m not saying he can’t play the role as he’s proven he can play parts that I would never expect from him, but there is a reason why actors in the past (including very famous ones like John Krasinski, Ioan Gruffudd, and Miles Teller) have disastrously failed trying to bring this role to life.
Nevertheless, having Pedro Pascal play Reed Richards really isn’t the most concerning part about this movie in my opinion as the rest of the cast will make or break this film. Whoever plays The Invisible Woman, The Thing, and The Human Torch will really determine if this cast can FINALLY crack the Fantastic Four code, or further destroy the slipping glories of the MCU.
In my humble opinion, one of the biggest reasons why the last few Fantastic Four films didn’t work was down to the cast just not feeling or acting like the Fantastic Four AT ALL. I’m not saying they were completely awful in the roles (I actually think the 2005 Fantastic Four movie is underrated), but they were clearly not good enough to be compelling takes on the single-most legendary Marvel superhero group in the company’s history.
I mean, one of the main reasons (and probably the main reason) why Marvel is the largest and most well-known comic book brand in entertainment is due to the successes of the 1960’s Fantastic Four comic book lines by the legendary Stan Lee and Jack Kirby.
It’s, truthfully, very surprising in hindsight that the MCU could even take off to the astronomical heights that it did during the 2010’s without even the slightest of mentions towards the Fantastic Four given how popular the team was for so many years prior to the MCU’s creation.
This is a LEGENDARY and HISTORIC superhero team, and just haphazardly or even somewhat thoughtful casting choices will doom a Fantastic Four movie before it even gets off the ground. So, we’ll have to see if these Pedro Pascal rumors are true, and if Marvel can finally make the Fantastic Four work on the big screen.
Images Source: Featured Image: (Marvel/Disney) (THE RETURN OF THE FANTASTIC FOUR — Teaser Trailer – YouTube)
