Fantastic Four: Pedro Pascal in talks to play Reed Richards in Marvel movie

Last Updated on November 22, 2023

Pedro Pascal might just be our new Reed Richards in Marvel’s upcoming Fantastic Four movie. It’s been reported that The Mandalorian actor is in talks to play the leader of Marvel’s first family.

The news was first reported by Daniel Richtman and later backed up by /Film and Deadline, with the latter saying that the deal is far from done as the scheduling is still being worked out. Pedro Pascal is one busy dude, as he’s expected to be getting back to work on Ridley Scott’s Gladiator sequel before the end of the year, as well as reprise his role of Joel on the second season of HBO’s The Last of Us. He’s also expected to return as The Mandalorian, but that role has become more of a voice-over gig for the actor.

The Fantastic Four movie is expected to launch Phase Six of the Marvel Cinematic Universe and is set to be directed by WandaVision’s Matt Shakman, who has teased that the movie will be unlike anything we’ve seen from Marvel so far. “It’s different in so many ways,” Shakman said. “I wish I could be specific. I wish I could say more. But we are doing things very differently from a story standpoint, from an approach to the filmmaking standpoint, that really fits the material. I wish I could say more. I would love to, but I can’t. But I think it’s going to be unlike anything you’ve seen before, and certainly unlike anything at Marvel that you’ve seen before.“

As this will be the third Fantastic Four movie (or fourth if you count the unreleased ’90s movie), Marvel Studios president Kevin Feige has said that they won’t simply be retelling the team’s origin. “A lot of people know this origin story,” Feige said. “A lot of people know the basics. How do we take that and bring something that they’ve never seen before?” As the Fantastic Four have decades of history behind them, Feige admitted, “We’ve set a very high bar for ourselves with bringing that to the screen.“

Marvel has big plans for the superhero team, with Kevin Feige saying that Fantastic Four will be a big pillar of the Marvel Cinematic Universe. “Fantastic Four is the foundation for everything that came after in the comics. There’s certainly been versions of it [on screen], but never inhabiting the storytelling of the MCU. And that’s something that is really exciting for us.” Feige said. “People will start to hear more about that soon. We plan on that being a big pillar of the MCU going forward, just the way they’ve been in the comics for 50 or 60 years.” Fantastic Four is scheduled for a May 2, 2025 release.

Do you think Pedro Pascal would make a good Reed Richards for Marvel’s Fantastic Four movie?