After years of pining for John Krasinski to be cast as Mr. Fantastic, fans got their wish when the actor showed up as Reed Richards in Doctor Strange in the Multiverse of Madness. Shortly after, as a bit of a middle finger to fans, Richards was taunted and brutally murdered by the Scarlet Witch, who then went on to kill the rest of his Illuminati teammates.
While writer Michael Waldron has always maintained that the Illuminati was always in his draft of the film, he’s also been clear that the final lineup that appeared on film wasn’t representative of the one that he first pitched. Now, in a new interview with Empire, Waldron explains that whether or not Richards was always a part of that lineup, he was ALWAYS going to be part of the film, even if in a post-credit tag:
I always wanted Reed Richards in this thing. In my very first draft, I wrote a tag just for the hell of it, of the events of the movie being recorded and reviewed by somebody in the Baxter Building, and a stretchy hand coming into frame to run it back. Reed is probably my favorite Marvel Comics character, so I was always gunning to get him in here somewhere.
Michael Waldron
Waldron’s love for Richards is no secret. In an exclusive interview with Murphy’s Multiverse earlier this year, the writer detailed his passion for the character and how Jonathan Hickman’s work with the character in the comics inspired his take on Richards and the Illuminati. Fans of the character have a bit of a wait ahead of them before seeing him again, as Marvel Studios’ Fantastic Four isn’t scheduled to hit theaters for another 2 years; however, there is hope that the actor who will portray the character next might be introduced at D23.
Source: Empire
