With the recent announcement of a March 6, 2015 release date for Josh Trank’s Fantastic Four movie reboot, now seems to be the perfect time to start the conversation about who should be chosen to play Marvel’s premiere superhero team (yes, they came before the Avengers).
We’ll take a look at the actors who came before, see what was right and wrong about those performances, and look to the future to see what could and should be done next. Sound good?
Let the rampant fanboy speculation begin!
Mr. Fantastic
What went wrong last time…
As the quintessential father figure of the Fantastic Four’s family unit, Reed Richards should be played by someone with the emotional range to portray the range from fatherly devotion to an almost dangerous obsession with his personal scientific pursuits. One of the main problems with Ioan Gruffud’s performance from the 2005 movie and its sequel was that he came off more as a standard issue nerd, without the strength or gravity of a leader Reed should have. He (like almost everything else in the movies, honestly) had a bit of a sitcom-y feel to his performance. Reed’s obsession with science should be played seriously, not as the setup to a Three’s Company style misunderstanding.
Going forward…
A younger (but not too young) actor with a classic sort of dashing charm toned down for the role would work.
The internet seems to be obsessed with the idea of casting Matthew Morrison of Glee fame. Honestly, it’s hard to deny the fact that he looks the part as much as anybody. If he has the chops to pull it off, this could be a great way for him to get some recognition outside of his show’s fan base, not to mention the draw he would hold for his existing audience. Musical fans may not necessarily be into superhero movies (not that they can’t be, of course) but they are often fiercely loyal to their favorite actors.
Two other actors that have the look and charisma for the role are Matthew Goode of Watchmen and Benedict Cumberbatch of Sherlock (and by the time this film comes out, Star Trek 2).
So which one would look best with grey streaks in his hair?
Matthew Morrison, Matthew Goode and Benedict Cumberbatch
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29 Comments
Do you have a casting choice for Silver Surfer?
I have never heard of any of the guys you put forward for Johnny Storm. Depressingly I suspect that this is a sign of my age!
My casting choices for the F4 will always be Alex Hyde- Whyte, Jay Underwood, Rebecca Staab and Michael Bailey-Smith. These guys deserve their moment in the sun.
Haha. Yes, Tim, they certainly would be great as the FF. Why hasn’t anyone made a movie with them yet? Maybe Roger Corman would be interested. (I seriously want to use the screen grab of Mr. Fantastic’s arm coming out of the top of the limo. That is one of my favorite things ever put to film)
As for the Silver Surfer, I’m not entirely sure. I haven’t given him much thought yet. I was considering doing a sixth page full of a whole bunch of other characters, but it ended up being a little unwieldy.
I guess they weren’t completely off-base with the Laurence Fishburne voice-over thing. I’m not really sure what else you can do with that character besides CGI stand-in, deep voice. But nothing in those movies felt right.
I read somewhere a suggestion of Keanu Reeves, which would actually be quite interesting given his starchyness and the throwback to Bill & Ted.
I also heard the suggestion of Jessalyn Gilsig as Sue alongside Matthew Morrison. That would ensure that the romance works which is pretty essential to FF. I think she also does well as a mother figure, which is something that was missed in the films with Alba.
I love your pics for FF. I don’t think you really need a big-name actor to portray Thing, and ironically it seems the only one of the cast you put up that is ‘big’ is Tom Hardy. The majority of the movie he’ll be in costume, which should definitely be CGI. Thing is supposed to be massive. I hated that they made Doom an American in the other movies. He is supposed to be European. Golf clap for that casting tidbit on your end.
Thank you, David! I tried really hard to find some good pics for the article. And I’m glad you like the European Dr. Doom. I have to agree with you about the Thing, but I’m still standing by my choice so far as a big-name actor would go.
And as for Tristan: Keanu Reeves would be an interesting choice. Maybe he could surprise us and do something interesting with the role.
As for Jessalyn Gilsig, I think I may have seen the same article you did. I’m not sure if I see her for Sue. I’m not really a Glee fan, so I haven’t seen much of her, but I’m not sure I like her look for the role. Also she seems a tiny bit too old for what I would personally like to see them do with the reboot.
Thanks for the great comments so far, everyone! I love having a discussion like this.
No. Don’t even joke about Matthew Morrison being in FF. He is a bad actor, having (unfortunately) watched the first season of Glee I can attest to the fact that he has one face which is ‘sad puppy dog eyed face’.
Unfortunately, I think Hardy is too big of a star to be cast in body make-up nowadays.
Here’s my picks for a Fantastic Four reboot:
*Mr. Fantastic – George Clooney
*Thing / Ben Grimm – Dwayne Johnson
*Human Torch – Shia LaBeouf
*Invisible Woman – Jennifer Lawrence
*Doctor Doom – Sean Bean
Some good choices, but I actually would pick Benedict Cumberbatch as Doom. Imagine the voice from the Trek 2 trailer behind a metal mask…he’d be intense
Andrew Lincoln as Mr Fantastic?
That’s not a terrible idea. I could get behind that.
Mr. Fantastic: Joseph Fiennes or Benedict Cumerbatch
Invisible Woman: Charlize Theron or Alice Eve
Human Torch: Eric Christian Olsen or Garrett Hedlund
Thing: Bruce Willis or Jason Clarke
Dr. Doom: Rufus Sewell
Silver Surfer: voice of Kevin Spacey
Mr Fantastic – George Clooney! He is one of the most expensive actors to cast but he no doubt has a fan base that will buy into this film. Plus , he needs redemption from Batman And Robin.
The invisiable woman – Charlize Theron…. perfect for the role….. i thought ahe was fantastic in handcock and showed that she can be believable in movies like these.
The Thing – Tom Hardy is perfect casting in this role.
The Human Torch – Chris Pine would be a great choice but ofcourse he would have to be an older version much like Chris Evans was. I persinally thought Evans was great in the role and is under rated for it…. but as far as Pine goes if you did not like Evans version then you wont agree with my choice of Chris Pine. also as a side note…. remember this means war? Him and Hardy have great chemistry.
Dr Doom – i honestly wouldnt mind seeing Tom Hardy in this role if they go a different direction with the thing. however i dont think they will i know i wouldnt. this ones tough. really tough. with a cast i just named above there has to be a known name playing this role ( with an accent ). Christian Bale comes to mind but thats not realistic as his fee would send them into bankruptcy as this point. how about Jason Statham? I know what yall are thinking…. hell no but hear me out. Statham has name value and action movie credentials. this would also be a different role for him to kinda get away from his traditional bad ass roles in b style movies and expand his horizons. i could also see him as the thing if they would rather put Hardy in this role which now that i think about it might be better.
Mr Fantastic – Benadict Cumberbach for his role in Sherlock
Invisable Woman – Amber Heard as she has the ability to match up to Cumberbatch
Human Torch – Freddie Fox as i can’t think of anyone outside of the list
Thing – Tom Hardy as he is the leading British actor at the moment
Dr. Doom – Javier Bardem for his role in Skyfall
I disagree with this. When Matthews character discovered that his wife was faking a pregnancy the range of emotions he displayed in a short amount of time, shock, anger, sadness was impressive.
Everyone keeps saying George Clooney. Yeah, he sort of, kind of looks like Reed (sort of) but he is waaayyyyy too old for the role.
I was definitely sticking as close as I could to the 60′s iteration of the team, at their youngest points. That puts Johnny in late high school, Sue in her early to mid 20s, and Reed and Ben in their early 30′s or so. OBVIOUSLY I wouldn’t expect them to stick to that exact mold, but I do like the idea of the classic dynamic, and knowing Hollywood they almost certainly intend to cast younger anyway.
Even more important than the age thing, Clooney is way too famous for something like this. He’s at a different point in his career. He’s doing much higher brow movies and I think the only way he would show up in a film like this would be as a dignified supporting role (Kevin Costner in Man of Steel, Martin Sheen in Spiderman, etc.).
And come on, Blake, Batman and Robin was a long time ago. I think he has more than made up for that one. :)
These are all really great suggestions; I especially love the mention of Alex Skarsgard as Dr. Doom. He would fit perfectly in the role, and has proven that he can play a malicious character. After seeing all of these entries a coworker at DISH and I have been debating on our top choices. But Alex is the one person that we agree is perfect, so I hope that he is considered for the role. The original Fantastic Four movies really had something lacking from them and that was in part due to miscasting. So I really hope that changes with this new reboot. To pass the time until casting choices are announced, I have been watching movies with these suggested actors using Blockbuster @Home from DISH. It helps that it’s so easy and quick to get DVDs delivered in the mail. But my favorite feature is that I have unlimited exchanges in a Blockbuster store if I can’t stand the wait. Seeing Alex in the early seasons of True Blood, it is clear that he would be an ideal villain. I can’t wait to see what really happens, but so far, it seems like this is a really great list of potentials.
Thanks for the comment and the compliment, but are you sure you’re not just here to advertise, love?
Reed Richards-James Franco
Johnny Storm – Cam Gigandet
Susan Storm – Jessica Biel
Ben Grimm – Joel Edgerton
Dr. Doom – Sharlto Copley
Here are my picks for the reboot
Reed – James Franco
Sue – Jessica Biel
Ben – Joel Edgerton
Dr. Doom – Sharlto Copley
I’d go with
Reed: Adrian Brody
Sue: Emily Browning
Johnny: Chad Michael Murray
Doom: Karl Urban
Still not sure on Ben yet. But that’s who I think would do a good job
Reed Richards/Mr. Fantastic: Lee Pace
Sue Storm/The Invisible Woman: Alice Eve
Johnny Storm/The Human Torch: Alex Pettyfer
Ben Grimm/The Thing: Karl Urban
Ultimate Fantastic Four cast:
Reed Richards/ Anton Yelchin
Susan Storm/ Taylor Momsen
Benjamin Grimm/ Forrest Griffin
Jonathan Storm/ Callan McAuliffe
Doom/ Jack Huston
any thoughts?
Ultimate Fantastic Four cast:
Reed Richards/Anton Yelchin
Susan Storm/Taylor Momsen
Benjamin Grimm/Forrest Griffin
Jonathan Storm/Callan McAuliffe
Doom/Jack Huston
any thoughts?
How about Alex Pettyfer for the Human Torch?
Why not get “MF Doom” to play as Doctor Doom?
I think I’m only suggesting this actor because he looks like Michael Chiklis, but i think Dean Norris from Breaking bad would make a great Ben grimm.
Reed Richards – James Badge Dale
Susan Storm – Diane Kruger
Johnny Storm – Ryan Phillippe
Ben Grimm – Louis Lombardi