Marvel Studios have marked Valentine’s Day by announcing Pedro Pascal, Vanessa Kirby, Joseph Quinn, and Ebon Moss-Bachrach will be playing Reed Richards/Mr. Fantastic, Sue Storm/Invisible Woman, Johnny Storm/the Human Torch, and Ben Grimm/the Thing in The Fantastic Four reboot, releasing in theaters on July 25, 2025. Check out the Valentine’s Day card featuring the MCU’s official First Family (and what appears to be H.E.R.B.I.E.) below:
All of the actors had been widely rumored for the parts for some time, except Pascal, whose name was first reported late last year. The only issue had been the actor’s busy schedule, with him filming The Last of Us season two, Gladiator 2, and the noir thriller Tropico before The Fantastic Four rolls cameras in August; perhaps tellingly, the film is now scheduled to arrive after its previously announced May 2, 2025 release date.
Pascal, 48, will be the first Hispanic actor to ever play Reed Richards in any medium, and the first Hispanic actor to receive top billing in an MCU film. (His close friend, Moon Knight‘s Oscar Isaac, was the first to headline any of the studio’s projects, while other Hispanic/Latine actors like Zoe Saldana, Tessa Thompson, Rosario Dawson, Xochitl Gomez, and the 2005-07 Fantastic Four films’ Jessica Alba were technically co-leads.) Furthermore, his casting indicates his presence in The Mandalorian & Grogu, also set to begin shooting this year, will remain strictly a voiceover one.
Kirby, 35, is best known for playing Princess Margaret in The Crown, and Alanna Mitsopolis/White Widow in the Mission: Impossible films; she and Quinn, 30, are both British. Quinn, best known for playing Eddie Munson in Stranger Things 4, will appear with Pascal beforehand in Gladiator 2 this November. Last but not least, Moss-Bachrach, 46, is best known for playing Richie Jerimovich on The Bear, and has already been part of the MCU, having played Micro on The Punisher. Like Ben Grimm, he is Jewish.
Helmed by Matt Shakman, the Emmy Award-nominated director of WandaVision, The Fantastic Four will hopefully finally provide Stan Lee and Jack Kirby’s legendary heroes with the movie they deserve next summer. In the meantime, the WandaVision spin-off Agatha: Darkhold Diaries will be released on Disney+ this fall, while Deadpool & Wolverine will arrive in theaters on July 26, Captain America: Brave New World will be released on February 14, 2025, and Thunderbolts will take The Fantastic Four‘s original spot on May 2, 2025.
