Marvel Studios has finally announced the long-awaited cast for the upcoming Fantastic Four movie, the latest attempt to turn one of comics’ most popular and endearing teams into a successful film franchise.
There are no big surprises, but it’s still a very interesting group. Pedro Pascal will star as Reed Richards, and will be joined by rising stars Vanessa Kirby, Joseph Quinn and Ebon Moss-Bachrach.
Pascal has become a household name after his roles in Game of Thrones, The MandalorianAnd The last of us, and now he gets to anchor one of Marvel’s biggest properties. Reed Richards is basically the collective father figure of the Marvel Universe even before he was an actual father, so choosing a man who has spent most of the 2020s playing the most popular father figures on TV so far makes a lot of sense.
Not much else is known about the film at this point, other than that it will be directed by Matt Shakman (WandaVision, It’s always sunny in Philadelphia) and is scheduled to hit theaters on July 25, 2025, but there are certainly a lot of excellent Fantastic Four stories from Marvel’s back catalog that you can take inspiration from.
With July 2025 still far away, there is plenty of time to get acquainted with the greatest hits of the new Fantastic Four. Check out some of their best previous roles while you wait for the new movie.
Pedro Pascal (Reed Richards, aka Mister Fantastic)
Expectation
Image: gunpowder and air
Where to watch: For digital rental/purchase at Apple And Amazon
Everyone may know Pascal as Grogu’s adoptive father, but a year earlier he was a helmet-wearing father in a much smaller science fiction project called Expectation. The film follows Pascal and his daughter, played by Yellow jacketsSophie Thatcher, as they make their way through the forests of a strange moon. Pascal wasn’t exactly a household name when this came out, but he’s no less endearing, fatherly and fascinating than he would be a few years later in the film. The last of us. —Austen Goslin
Triple border
Photo: Melinda Sue Gordon/Netflix
Where to look: Netflix
While paternal tenderness may be Pascal’s current calling card, he’s also been great in quite a few more dramatic, action-y projects like those from Netflix. Narcos And Triple border. Among a ridiculously talented cast including Ben Affleck and Oscar Isaac, Pascal still stands out and holds his own as part of a team of special operations soldiers who fight their way through the South American jungle in the hopes of pulling off an impossible heist . —AG
Vanessa Kirby (Sue Storm, aka Invisible Woman)
Queen & Country
Image: BBC Worldwide
Where to watch: Stream on Hoopor subrent Apple, Amazonor Vudu
Vanessa Kirby is on the cusp of fame, and for good reason. In recent years, she’s had a string of blockbuster roles, including a recurring role as White Widow in the Mission: Impossible films and a co-starring role alongside The Rock and Jason Statham in the Good Enough sidequel Fast & Furious Gifts: Hobbs & Shaw. But Marvel fans wanting to know why the 35-year-old can bring the dramatic goods to the role of Sue Storm will have to look beyond her tentpole work. A classically trained theater actor, Kirby cut her teeth on Shakespeare and Ibsen before appearing on screen in John Boorman’s underrated war novel. Queen and country. Boorman focuses on the boys at war, but Kirby stands out for her burst of cunning, feminine energy. —Matte plasters
Pieces of a woman
Image: Netflix
Where to watch: Netflix
While she played her breakout role as Princess Margaret in the early seasons of Netflix The crown puts her on every casting director’s must-have list, it’s her absolutely devastating turn Pieces of a woman that stands out. Beginning with a 24-minute uninterrupted sequence of home births (which doesn’t end well), her encapsulation of a mother dealing with loss, a spiraling marriage, and possibly someone to blame rightly earned her an Oscar nomination in the haze from the Academy of 2021. Awards. (If you don’t plan on descending into a full-blown tearjerker as you study her work, hold on Napoleon when it hits Apple TV Plus later this year.) —MP
Ebon Moss-Bachrach (Ben Grimm, aka The Thing)
The bear
Photo: Chuck Hodes/FX
Where to watch: Hulu
I bet most people see Ebon Moss-Bachrach and immediately say “Cousin!” He steals the show in the excellent FX/Hulu restaurant drama The bear as main character Carmy’s sometimes good friend, sometimes kitchen rival Cousin Richie. The tension between the two is one of the driving forces of the series, and the Richie-centric season two episode “Forks” is one of the best in a show full of fantastic episodes. —Piet Volk
Andor
Image: Lucasfilm
Where to watch: Disney Plus
Just when Moss-Bachrach’s star was rising The bearhe delivered a sparkling supporting role Andor, one of the best Star Wars media ever. In his role as the skeptical rebel Arvel Skeen, he brilliantly plays the role of Diego Luna, adding even more tension and depth to an arc that already revolves around a high-stakes heist. —PV
Joseph Quinn (Johnny Storm, aka Human Torch)
Stranger things
Image: Netflix
Where to watch: Netflix
As Eddie Munson, the metalhead Dungeon Master, Quinn absolutely stole the show in the otherwise meh fourth season of Stranger things. He brought a distinct swagger and charm to his roguish character, and had electric chemistry with all of his scene partners. It wasn’t his breakthrough role for nothing! —Petrana Radulovic
Les Misérables (2018)
Image: BBC Studios
Where to watch: PBS masterpiece
This version of Les Miserables, a collaboration between BBC and PBS, adapts the novel, not the hit musical. So no “Can you hear the people singing?” for Quinn’s Enjolras. Yet he managed to brilliantly portray the passion and desperation of the rebel leader. Mans continues to play doomed characters, I think! —PR