In what would be, if confirmed, perhaps one of the most uninspired casting choices of all time, numerous whispers have suggested that Marvel’s current front runner for the role of Reed Richards in their upcoming Fantastic Four film is none other than The Mandalorian‘s Pedro Pascal.
RELATED RUMOR: Marvel’s ‘Fantastic Four’ Film Will See Team Originate “Not Just From The 1960s But Also A Different Universe”
Word of Marvel’s supposed interest in having The Last of Us actor serve as the titular team’s elastic leader was first raised to the public by noted scooper Daniel ‘DanielRPK’ Richtman, who published this scoop to his personal Patreon account on November 15th.
Shortly thereafter, fellow scooper MyTimeToShineHello asserted via their personal Twitter account, “Looks like we have our Reed Richards! Pedro Pascal”.
In a follow-up tweet, the scooper offered the caveat, “Putting this out there just in case but it’s possible there was a confusion and he’s actually playing the villain.”
Interestingly, such an outcome would line-up with the previous rumor, as first raised by veteran entertainment journalist Jeff Sneider, that the Fantastic Four‘s “main villain is Galactus and I’m told that Galactus will be Latino.”
Unfortunately, MyTimeToShineHello did not offer any further details regarding the possibility of Pascal’s alternative casting.
RELATED RUMOR: ‘Fantastic Four’ Film Will Feature A Female Herald Of Galactus
Then, just five minutes after MyTimeToShineHello published their scoop, Deadline’s Justin Kroll alleged that, “while a deal is far from done”, his sources had likewise informed him of Pascal’s courting for the part of Mr. Fantastic.
“Insiders add scheduling is still being worked out” he added, “but multiple sources close to the negotiations are saying its headed in the right direction for Pascal to do this and his other future projects.”
Notably, this casting rumor comes a little over a month after independent Disney reporter WDW Pro alleged that, according to one of his network’s “highest level sources“, not only was the film depicted Reed “so poorly” that “some actors even passed on playing the role.”
“They did not want to be involved with this ‘toxic masculinity’ style portrayal,” said the source. “Apparently the original director [MCU Spider-Man trilogy helmer Jon Watts] left, at least part way through, due to this same issue.”
However, in light of Marvel’s noted reshuffling of their future production plans in the wake of their flailing quality levels, it’s unknown whether or not this direction is still the one Marvel intends to take for Fantastic Four.
As of writing, Marvel has provided no official comment regarding Pascal’s potential attachment to Fantastic Four nor any potential casting for their cinematic First Family.
