What’s next for Marvel Studios? Who’s recently joined the cast of your most anticipated series or film? Where can you find the teasers and trailers? Look no further, true believers. Everything you need to know about the future of the MCU has been collected for you here. Click on each logo to learn what we currently know about the upcoming MCU projects.
Marvel Studios waded into the shallow end of the nostalgia pool with X-Men ’97. It was a low-risk project for them in that it had a very high floor thanks to the deeply revered X-Men: The Animated Series. Through three episodes, ’97 has performed well above that floor and the only question left to answer is just how high of a ceiling the project has, especially with new viewers. Once the wistful sentiment wears off of those who grew up watching TAS on Saturday mornings, the series still has to keep the attention of a new, younger audience in order to sustain success into a second season.
Should it do so, however, Marvel Studios May have found a new recipe to success in Grandma’s ’90s cookbook and may just decide to continue to go backward to go forward and revive some of their other ’90s animated series. While there’s currently no indication they are planning to do so nor any guarantee they could replicate the microwaved hype of X-Men ’97, previous animated series such as Silver Surfer, Fantastic Four and, yes, Spider-Man preemptively and unknowingly put the pieces in place for Marvel Animation to adapt some of Marvel Comics greatest hits of the ’00s.
Beginning in 2006, Marvel Comics published a related series of cosmic crossover events largely created by Dan Abnett and Andy Lanning, aka DnA, with a kickstart from Keith Giffen. Over the course the next five years, Marvel’s publishing house redefined the cosmic corner of Marvel Comics for the first time since Jim Starlin‘s decade and change time as the defining voice of their space operas. Through Annihilation, Annihilation: Conquest, War of Kings, Realm of Kings, The Thanos Imperative and The Annihilators, the House of Ideas revitalized old heroes and villains, reimagined others and reminded readers just how broad the the cosmos is. Serendipitously, Marvel Animation could be poised to repeat the success of their publishing partner by simply retelling these incredible stories on a stage that has already been set for them.
More than five years passed between the end of the run of Marvel and Saban Entertainment’s animated series (X-Men, Fantastic Four, Iron Man, Spider-Man, The Incredible Hulk, Silver Surfer, Spider-Man Unlimited and Avengers: United They Stand) and the publication of Annihilation; however, those series laid enough foundation to allow Marvel Animation to orchestrate a run through Abnett and Lanning’s cosmic opus. Incredibly, most of the main players of the DnA’s cosmic stories were introduced in the ’90s animated series and those who weren’t could easily be worked into an episode of one of a few series that would most likely be revived.
Before looking at how Marvel Animation could move ahead, let’s take a quick look at the work that was done in the ’90s that could provide the springboard into the Cosmic crossover events.
The granddaddy of them all, as it were, X-Men: The Animated Series brought new life to Marvel’s properties in 1992, paving the way for Fox to roll out their X-Men films which, along with 1998’s Blade, put things into place for Marvel Studios to roll the dice on the Marvel Cinematic Universe. Ironically, the success of X-Men ’97 may now convince Disney to further invest in animation. The circle of life. X-Men: The Animated Series largely took its inspiration from Chris Claremont‘s work on Marvel Comics’ Uncanny X-Men but also drew on plenty of other issues and runs. Outside of the core X-Men themselves, the original animated series introduced several characters and locations during its five-season, 76-episode run that would be key players in an animated Cosmic arc.
Paired with Iron Man as part of the Marvel Action Hour, Fantastic Four ran for 26 episodes over two seasons from 1994-1996. For the most part, the series adapted the earliest adventures of the team from the comics and introduced dozens of characters that would fit neatly into Marvel Animation’s Cosmic narrative.
The Jade Giant was given 2 seasons of his own animated series that totaled 21 episodes which aired in 1996 and 1997. Though neither Banner nor Hulk are key characters in any of the Cosmic stories, his children are and including him also allows for some great stories to be told in the revivals which can’t just be about the Cosmic stories.
Possibly a bit too far out even for the ’90s, Silver Surfer ran for only one, 13-episode season after a legal dispute between Saban and Marvel killed the partially developed second season. Though it wasn’t connected to Fantastic Four and aired after the cancellation, I’m not entirely sure it contradicts any story arcs from it either. Silver Surfer introduced so many of Marvel Comics’ major Cosmic players in its one and only season, making it an integral part of the foundation needed for Marvel Animation to tell the DnA stories.
The last of the series to be produced through the collaborative efforts of Marvel Entertainment Group and Saban Entertainment, The Avengers: United They Stand pales in comparison to the superior Avengers: Earth’s Mightiest Heroes; however, it put one key character in play (sparing us all another origin story) and a revival for a second season could carve out an episode or two for an adaptation of a mid-2000s crossover event that could be used to help us out.
Incredibly, without any possible way of knowing what they were doing, the folks at Marvel Entertainment Group introduced almost every main player in DnA’s Cosmic run. A few big guns are missing but that can all be easily fixed in subsequent revival seasons of the shows listed above.
No cap: making this revival work as a way to adapt the DnA stories through the animated series is my Roman Empire. So, how do we get there based on what’s been done in X-Men: The Animated Series, Season 1 of X-Men ’97, Fantastic Four and Silver Surfer? That’s the easy part and it just requires giving a few key individuals that main character energy. Here’s a road map to make sure we’re all eating good in our revival era.
The reality is that even if this were to happen, it would be years before it unfolds on our small screens. (Cue Invincible reference): Animation takes a long time. However, with two more seasons of X-Men ’97 already ordered up, Marvel Animation seems like it’s here to stay for at least a while. For the purposes of this totally made-up series of events, we’re operating under the assumption that Season 2 of X-Men ’97 streams before the first DnA domino falls.
There’s no such thing as too much Hulk. A third season of the animated series could continue the exploration of his fractured psyche, introduce the animated iteration of the Illuminati and send him off to Sakaar in a cliffhanger episode where he could meet a familiar face. The continued adventures of The Sentinel of the Spaceways will be an integral part of the infrastructure of the shared universe simply because he can be any and everywhere. Season 1 of Silver Surfer ended on a cliffhanger and it provides the perfect opportunity to open Season 2 with him unaware of how he’s come to be on Sakaar and under the control of the Red King. This could be a classic Marvel Animation two or three-parter to wrap up the third season of The Incredible Hulk with an adaptation of Planet Hulk.
In the comics, Surfer’s time on Sakaar immediately preceded the awful chain of events that befell the galaxy and having Season 2 of Silver Surfer spin out of Season 3 of The Incredible Hulk provides the perfect opportunity for the first big event to unfold. Assuming a 10-episode season and the pace at which stories are told in animation, Season 2 could open with a two-part adaptation of Kurt Busiek‘s Maximum Security crossover event. Though it preceded Planet Hulk in publication, it could serve as a great way to integrate the X-Men, Fantastic Four and some cosmic heavy hitters into the narrative. A few changes could introduce the Kyln and one of its prisoners, Star-Lord, who will play a big role later in the season. A flashback episode somewhere along the line can introduce Mar-Vell to the mix, paving the way to explore his legacy later. A quick stop on Xandar in Episode 5 could introduce Xandar, Richard Rider and the Nova Corps and then a three-part season finale could adapt the incredible Annihilation event.
The first season only introduced a handful of Avengers and the focus was on the West Coast team. A second season could add to the roster but its real purpose is to allow for an adaptation of Secret Invasion that involves the X-Men. Sure, that story was done in Avengers: EMH but it fits so well here and allows for an interesting path to Annihilation: Conquest being adapted as well. According to its creator, Brian Michael Bendis, Secret Invasion was the result of the Skrull homeworld being destroyed in Annihilation, so let Season 2 of The Avengers: United They Stand handle that story while working as a huge crossover while revealing that the Richard Rider who found himself back on Earth and involved in the battle was a Skrull.
Following the events of Secret Invasion and the revelation that the man Earth’s Mightiest Heroes thought to be Nova was a Skrull, the third season of Fantastic Four will open with an episode dedicated to recovering all heroes that had been simmed by the Skrulls. What a story Richard Rider will have to tell once he comes around. Told during an extended two-episode flashback, Rider, reunited with his brother Robbie, will detail his role as the central hero in the fight against the Phalanx and its leader, Ultron, following the fight against the Annihilation Wave. These episodes are a huge payoff from storylines set in motion both in the ’90s series and in the revival seasons. As the episodes draw to a close, Rider can reveal that as the war against the Phalanx came to an end, his ally Kl’rt alerted him that the Skrulls were planning to invade Earth and that as he attempted to return home to warn his friends, he was captured by the shapeshifting aliens.
Annihilation: Conquest is arguably the best story in the Cosmic series and plays a pivotal role in the future of the universe. Should Marvel Animation be so inclined, they could use it to launch a Guardians of the Galaxy animated series that would be far different from the MCU’s live-action films and prior animated series featuring the team. The Guardians still have a major role to play in the next act.
Without knowing what stories Season 2 of X-Men ’97 will explore, we can’t really be sure how this will go but we’re just playing here so it’s fine. To keep things on track, Season 3 will need to bring back the Starjammers and update the story of Chris Summers, aka Corsair, to include his third son, Gabriel. A nice, three-episode arc could tell the Rise and Fall of the Shi’ar Empire and put Emperor Vulcan on the throne just in time for a war.
A brand new series with a heavy load to carry, Guardians of the Galaxy Season 1 can take a the majority of its episodes to get rolling and give the feel for the team before a two-episode adaptation of War of Kings. The Shi’ar, the Inhumans, the Starjammers and Blastaar, King of the Negative Zone, all get big payoffs in a crazy, all-out war that heavily involves the Guardians and Nova. The mid-season two-parter should leave audiences on a cliffhanger as the consequences of the war are made clear when Quasar’s exploration of “The Fault” leads to his disappearance.
Quite a proposal here but if Marvel Animation could pull it off, it would be epic! While audiences have been following events of War of Kings in the middle of Season 1 of Guardians of the Galaxy, Season 3 of The Incredible Hulk will have been setting the stage and telling the tale of World War Hulk. Following the WWH story, an episode or two of The Incredible Hulk will be spent revisiting the planet of Sakaar and its people, including the Hulk’s two sons, Skaar and Hiro-Kala. The stage is now set for part of the story of Realm of Kings to be told in The Incredible Hulk and part to be told at the end of Season 1 of Guardians of the Galaxy.
Key Characters and Places Introduced in The Incredible Hulk Season 3
DnA’s Cosmic run ended with two limited runs: The Thanos Imperative and Annihilators. There’s no better place to tell these two stories than in the third season of Silver Surfer. By this point in time, all the main players for both stories are not only on the board but also incredibly well-developed. Characters such as Thanos, Adam Warlock, Ronan and Beta Ray Bill–who first appeared in the ’90s Silver Surfer series–all get major payoffs through the two stories and the audience gets to see one of the great Marvel Comics’ teams in action. While it marks the end of the great Cosmic confluence, a final episode “stinger” could reveal that Thanos is still alive and set the stage for a return to Earth-bound stories based on Jonathan Hickman‘s Infinity story.
This is an ambitious road map, no doubt, and not something anyone should ever expect to see; however, it shines a light on the animation’s ability to adapt great Marvel Comics’ stories a little more faithfully and tell some of them that are likely not going to unfold in the MCU anytime soon…if ever.
Via social media, Marvel Studios has revealed the long-awaited cast of Fantastic Four…and given it a new release date.
As has been rumored for months, Pedro Pascal, Vanessa Kirby, Ebon Moss-Bachrach and Joseph Quinn will make up the MCU’s version of the First Family. Pascal (The Mandalorian, The Last of Us) and Kirby (The Fast and The Furious and Mission: Impossible franchises) will play Reed and Susan Richards, respectively, Moss-Bachrach (Andor, The Bear) will portray Ben Grimm/The Thing and Quinn (Stranger Things) will suit up as Johnny Storm.
Along with the cast announcement and a new logo comes a new release date. Recently slated for May 2nd, 2025, Fantastic Four will now debut on July 25, 2025. With that move, Thunderbolts has been moved into the May 2nd, 2025 slot.
Updating…
As the world waits on the answer to the most important question inhistory–who will make up Marvel Studios’ First Family?–an interesting tidbit of news about the script for Fantastic Four has emerged.
Working in tandem, Reddit’s DCEU Leaks and insider Daniel RPK have learned that the writing duo of Scott Neustadter and Michael Weber have been brought into “touch up” Josh Friedman‘s script. Friedman, who wrote Avatar: The Way of Water and Snowpiercer, was brought on in March 2023 to take over scripting duties from Jeff Kaplan and Ian Springer.
Neustadter and Weber have worked together on several projects included Daisy Jones & the Six, Hulu’s Rosaline and The Disaster Artist. According to the report, they have not been brought in to rewrite the script from page one but simply to take a pass at it. Given their filmography, it seems likely they’re adding some comedic touches to Friedman’s sci-fi script.
Though there have been no official announcements by Marvel Studios, the outlook for 2025 may have changed significantly in the very short amount of time that has passed since we published The All-New, All-Different Hypothetical 2025 Marvel Studios Release Calendar, V1. And that means it’s time for an update!
New directors Justin Benson and Aaron Moorhead have completed taking stock of the footage that was shot last year and seem to have come away with a little less work to do than fans thought. The latest word is that the directing duo and showrunner Dario Scardapane were able to condense what was filmed into 6 episodes and that they’ll be getting to work on filming a new pilot episode and two additional episodes to complete Part One. However…
According to star Vincent D’Onofrio, this highly anticipated streaming series may no longer be 18 episodes…but will it be more or will it be less?
It seems like there are a few shows that could work with more episodes, then some that just need eight or 10 or six. Echo is like five. I think this show [Born Again] could definitely work with more episodes and I know that Charlie [Cox] is, and I am too, happy to do that.
-Vincent D’Onofrio on the Daredevil: Born Again episode count
Whatever the final total ends up being, it seems Part 1 is still on track for an early 2025 release.
The great release date shuffle may never end but a new round may start with Captain America: Brave New World. At one point in time, the studio set aside 5 months for additional photography to take place and brought in Matthew Ortman to script those scenes. While the hope is to start in mid-2024, we’ve heard cameras will not roll again until the powers that be are content with what’s been written rather than trying to course correct on the fly. Whether or not they actually film for 5 months, this project cannot afford to be a miss so expect them to take their time which may just mean it gets bumped off its February date and lands in May.
Steven Yeun dropped out of the film in early January and though the studio reportedly offered fellow TWD alum Austin Abrams the role of Sentry, the film is still without its Robert Reynolds as now. It’s not quite crunch time yet, however, as principal photography isn’t due to start for another 8-12 weeks. So–for now–this one stays here and can easily make its July release.
As was the prevailing belief, star Dominique Thorne confirmed that Ironheart has completed filming. That means it’s just sitting in the can waiting to be released at Marvel Studios’ pleasure. Given all the concern over many of the projects the last few years, that’s a welcome change. It sounds like a very safe bet that this will roll out in Fall 2025.
In an effort to accommodate the schedule of yet-to-be-announced-as-Reed-Richards star Pedro Pascal, it seems as though the start of production on Fantastic Four has been bumped into the second half of 2024. If that’s accurate, there’s absolutely no way this makes its May 2025 release date and there’s no need to rush it out in July when Thunderbolts SHOULD be completely ready to go. And so, the first family’s MCU debut will have to wait…perhaps until November. There should be no concern about WHEN MCU movies debut anymore (Doctor Strange, Thor: Ragnarok and Black Panther: Wakanda Forever all did very well at the box office in November) but rather that they release when they are ready to release. That might just mean Mahershal Ali’s Blade gets bumped to 2026 but that might just do the studio a favor as its one and only announced 2026 project might need some more time to cook anyway.
Despite an October statement by director Matt Shakman indicating the production on Fantastic Four was set to kick off in Spring 2024, recent misinformation had fans confused. A bogus report about a January start of principal photography caused fans to believe that the lack of casting news in recent weeks meant the film would not start on time and that it would be delayed. Alas, this is the world in which we live where starting on time powers a tsunami of bullshit. Nonetheless, a new report from a reliable insider has smoothed the rough waters for now.
According to insider Daniel RPK, cameras are set to roll on Fantastic Four beginning in May. The project, which was originally announced at SDCC ’19 with Jon Watts as director, has been a constant source of rumors and speculation, especially around the cast. As of now, no members of Marvel’s First Family have been announced though rumors persist that Pedro Pascal, Vanessa Kirby, Joseph Quinn and Ebon-Moss Bachrach will fill the roles of Reed Richards, Susan Storm, Johnny Storm and Ben Grimm, respectively.
The unfounded concerns about a delay in the start of production have led to internet buzz that the film will be unable to make its May 2nd, 2025 theatrical debut. While that may come to pass, there’s nothing at the moment that is cause for concern. Given now long the project has been in development and that Shakman has been on board and working with writers Jeff Kaplan and Ian Springer for well over a year, there’s no telling how much VFX work may have already been done that might allow for post-production to take place both concurrently with filming and speed up the process after.
Bob Iger‘s return to Disney and a pair of strikes have rendered nearly everything we once thought we knew irrelevant. Movies once slated for 2023 or 2024 have been moved to 2025 and the domino effect has probably only just begun. With so much having changed since last we ventured into the waters of the hypothetical calendar, it’s high time to relaunch them anew…and adifferent.
Following a major creative overhaul, the first episodes of Daredevil: Born Again–which were originally slated to debut in the Spring of 2024–are now TENTATIVELY on track to drop in January 2025. Though they didn’t throw the baby out with the bath water, it sounds like showrunner Dario Scardapane and new directors Justin Benson and Aaron Moorhead are going to take their time and make sure the MCU’s first Daredevil project does the character justice and given Bob Iger‘s demands that the projects live up to the high standards previously set for Marvel Studios, that might mean this gets pushed even further. We’ll know more shortly after the first of the year as we’ve recently heard that production is meant to get underway in January.
Reports of significant reshoots on Cap 4 lined up with Disney’s decision to move the film into 2025. Those reports suggested that the film will undergo roughly 5 months of additional photography which is a longer period of time than the film was in production for the first time around. Now, the studio has brought on a brand new writer in Matthew Orton and though they are targeting a mid-2024 restart, production will not resume until his work on the script is done. Throw in the amount of time it’ll take to make the VFX hold up–especially with an appearance by the Red Hulk in the cards–and the February 2025 date makes all the sense in the world.
Fantastic Four was announced at SDCC ’19 and two long work stoppages have kept pushing it further and further down the road though it’s continually in the news cycle. At this point, all anyone wants is for the casting rumors around this project to come to an end and for cameras to roll. According to a relatively recent interview with director Matt Shakman, production should get underway next Spring and be ready to serve as the studio’s tentpole film for 2025 and launch the summer movie season…just as it should.
No project on this hypothetical calendar is more hypothetical than this one. If all the rumors are true, its release is partially dependent on Daredevil: Born Again–and that’s IF the creative threads that originally tied the two projects together stay in the series with the new showrunner taking over. Throw in that there’s been no official announcement from Sony about this project and that Tom Holland‘s “new deal” hasn’t been officially announced either and you’ve got even more reason to think this one may not happen in 2025 at all. However, a script has been in the works for most of the year, Sony has this date on the calendar for a Marvel film and, at the moment, doesn’t have any other projects that seem to fit the date. On the other hand, rumors persist that Jon Watts may be on board to direct and plans are being made to film next summer…
By the time production finally starts on this project, the entire plot will have been leaked online. Despite multiple creative retoolings and a revolving door of writers, Thunderbolts is ultimately only delayed by a year from its original July 26, 2024 release date. Production is currently set to get underway in the spring with a TENTATIVE April start on the books.
A project that has been in the can for quite some time, Ironheart is on track to release 2 full years after it was originally slated to hit Disney Plus. It’ll be interesting to see if Disney ever addresses exactly why this series took so long to release (not even VFX touch-ups and reshoots can explain away a 2-year move), especially when the footage shown at 2022’s D23 looked pretty fun.
Mahershala Ali has the patience of a saint. Ali is the driving force behind this project which, like Fantastic Four, was announced over 4 years ago, and is staying the course despite several changes to the creative team over the past year or so and the delays due to the strikes. As of now, Blade looks like it’ll actually start production in the second half of 2024 and be ready for theaters, complete with an R-rating, by November 2025!
All in all, this is a major revamp from the last time we rolled out a hypothetical 2025 calendar. With things at Disney never having been in flux more than they are now, it’ll be fun to see just how much of this holds true.
Last week, fans finally got a long-awaited glimpse into the Marvel Cinematic Universe’s plans for the Fantastic Four, when the story broke that Pedro Pascal, he of The Mandalorian, The Last of Us, and countless “Daddy” memes, was cast as Reed Richards, the patriarch of Marvel’s First Family. And of course, that set the social media sphere aflame. But one aspect of the casting has been underexplored. At 48 years of age, Pascal won’t exactly be a spring chicken when Fantastic Four debuts on the big screen. And what that likely means is that a heretofore never explored aspect of Mister Fantastic in live-action is likely to be explored here: Reed Richards, father.
Based on Pascal’s age, a story based around the F4’s origin seems unlikely. Reed, Sue, Ben, and Johnny will probably be established heroes, and therefore it’s perfectly reasonable to assume that alongside the core Four, we will be introduced to Reed and Sue’s children, Franklin and Valeria Richards. In fact, it’s quite plausible that they’ll be teenagers, rather than toddlers.
This is important for a number of reasons. Firstly, as a franchise that debuted in 2008, the MCU is getting a bit long in the tooth, as the Gen Xers and Millennials who were part of what made the MCU a phenomenon are aging into the phases of their lives when they’re no longer dictating what’s cool. And while Marvel has seeded their universe with Young Avengers in order to hopefully connect with Zoomers on their level, the Fantastic Four is a throwback. You couldn’t get more Boomer. So who better to provide the eyes through which we meet them, if not their children? Yes, the F4 are a little bit (or even a lotta bit) uncool to modern audiences, but there can be something charming about Mom and Dad not being cool.
As stated earlier, the Fantastic Four feel like quaint throwbacks to a bygone era, and it’s for that reason that so many imagined Fantastic Four as a 60s period piece. But Franklin and Valeria are different; they’re not stuck in the amber of any previous generation’s aesthetic. They, more than the others, can bring a Modern Family element to a Father Knows Best dynamic. And it’s because they can look at their parents and uncles — who they love — and tell them that they’re a thousand years old and completely out of touch. Ironically, that kind of Gen Z gaze is how you make the F4 resonant to modern audiences, relatable both to the kids who see their parents in them, and the Gen Xers/Millennials, who see themselves in the context of their own relationships with their kids.
Which brings us back to Reed. There’s a certain amount of inherent unlikeability to being the smartest man in the world. It was always going to be necessary to smooth Reed’s edges a little bit, and get people to root for him and Sue to make things work. Casting the eminently charming Pedro Pascal helps. He’s already shown an ability to project fatherly qualities, even when his characters are supposedly loners. And when the MCU introduces us to Franklin and Valeria Richards, Pascal will be able to showcase that side of Mister Fantastic and enhance the Fantastic Four’s position as the First Family of the Marvel Cinematic Universe.
As it works toward a possible Spring 2024 start of production, Marvel Studios’ Fantastic Four is looking to round out its cast which is already rumored to be loaded with talent. After news broke that The Mandalorian and The Last of Us star Pedro Pascal was in talks for the role of Reed Richards/Mister Fantastic, rumors about the studio having settled on actors to fill the rest of the roles of Marvel Comics First Family weren’t far behind. Now, another rumor centered on one of the Fantastic Four’s most well-known antagonists has hit the web.
According to scooper Jeff Sneider, Marvel Studios is looking hard at Javier Bardem for the role of Galactus. Should Bardem’s busy schedule prevent him from filling the role of the Devourer of Worlds, the role could fall to Antonio Banderas, who was rumored to be the frontrunner for the Hunger That Does Not Cease earlier this year.
Sneider believes that the role of Galactus will mostly require Bardem to do voice work, which could ultimately make it possible for him to land the role. However, it’s possible that some motion-capture work might also be necessary which means both that the MCU’s Galactus would be more than an effervescent fart cloud and that Bardem would have to work around his schedule on F1 which co-stars Brad Pitt.
Source: The Insneider
The resolution of the SAG strike has allowed the big wheel in Hollywood to start spinning again and over the last several days, it has spun at breakneck speed. Over the course of just a few hours on November 15th, Pedro Pascal went from a rumored front-runner for the role of Reed Richards in Marvel Studios Fantastic Four to having trade reports indicate that he’s close to signing on for the role. Now, a new rumor from a familiar source indicates that the studio has also cast Pascal’s co-stars in the 2025 film.
According to Jeff Sneider, who was among the first to report Pascal’s involvement with the film, Vanessa Kirby, Joseph Quinn and Ebon-Moss Bachrach have been cast in the film as Sue Storm, Johnny Storm and Ben Grimm, respectively.
Our own sources indicated in August that Kirby had agreed to star in the film prior to the strike and that Quinn was a top choice for the studio which had concept art created of the actor as The Human Torch. Bachrach, who recently worked with Disney on Lucasfilm’s Andor and also starred as Micro in Netflix’s The Punisher, has been rumored as the front-runner for Ben Grimm/The Thing for several months.
While no deals have been announced yet, Sneider believes it’s just a matter of time before the three actors officially become part of the MCU. Fantastic Four, which is being helmed by WandaVision’s Matt Shakman, is scheduled to go into production in Spring 2024 and release in theaters on May 2nd, 2025.
Source: The Insneider
