Following his breakout performance in Jordan Peele’s thriller Nope, Brandon Perea has his hopes set on joining the Marvel Cinematic Universe. The actor hasn’t been quiet on social media or in interviews about wanting to join one of the most successful film franchises in history. While discussing the topic with Comicbook.com, Perea played it coy about if has met with Marvel Studios and his hopes on being part of the franchise.
If I did, I wouldn’t be able to talk about it anyway. And if anything, I’ve learned from other people’s mistakes in the Marvel Universe of letting things out. Even with this, I’ve learned so much from Nope, of there’s a laser on your forehead at all times when it comes to revealing things. I’d say this: I’ve put it out there in the universe, we’ll see what happens. I’ve been keeping my eyes out of what fans are saying of those universes, as well, of what they attract to, what they would like, and yeah, it’s cool to just get that input.
Brandon Perea
It certainly is an interesting strategy to follow if putting the interest out into the ether will be fruitful for the young actor. While Perea has listed a wide variety of roles he’d be interested in playing previously, one has very quickly become a standout for him in his self-fancast.
Well, the thing I’ve been intrigued in recently, and I didn’t even bring this idea up, I started seeing it from fan casting. Johnny Storm, man. That was something that was very intriguing. I think my performance in Nope really highlights that. I’d have to bring some more swagger into it for sure for that Johnny Storm, but to be able to sit across from Tom Holland or something, like that best friend feel, I think, well, especially after watching the latest Spider-Man, we’d knock some scenes out of the park, man. It’d be so fun and it’d be a blessing.
Brandon Perea
Joining the cast of Marvel Studios’ Fantastic Four is definitely going to be a top prize for Hollywood in the coming year. Casting rumors are already abound with the recent revelation that star actor Adam Driver has met with Marvel Studios to discuss portraying an undisclosed role for the film (assumedly either Mister Fantastic or Doctor Doom). Perea certainly fits a strong age range for the character of Human Torch, especially if they want to have him be a contemporary to Peter Parker in the Marvel Cinematic Universe. With more acting credits under his name, there could be a strong case for Perea to ultimately portray one of the most exciting characters in Marvel history. Ultimately though, it will likely be a while before any concrete news on casting Marvel’s First Family with production not set to begin until the Fall of 2023.
With a new director and a writing team, Marvel Studios is beginning to make moves on their long-awaited Fantastic Four film. Announced at SDCC ’19, Fantastic Four has been delayed by the departure of original director Jon Watts and was recently bumped into 2025 as part of a slate-wide reshuffle. However, with things looking settled in, they’ve begun the search for a cast and with the onset of casting comes a fascinating new rumor.
According to the Hot Mic podcast, Adam Driver may have previously met with Marvel Studios for an unknown role in the film a few months ago. The 38-year-old actor has taken a bit of a break from Hollywood tentpoles after holding down the role of Kylo Ren in the Star Wars sequel trilogy but has continued to build a strong resume, including garnering a second Academy Award nomination for his role in a Marriage Story.
Though the rumor doesn’t attach Driver to a specific role, thoughts immediately turn to Driver taking on the role of Victor Von Doom. While there’s plenty of interest in who Marvel will cast as the First Family, Doom may be the biggest role in the history of the studio. One of Marvel’s richest and most complex characters, Doom should have a major role in the next decade of the MCU, potentially making it attractive to a star like Driver while also tempting Marvel to look for known quantities.
Of course, until there’s official word from Marvel Studios, there’s no reason to get too attached to anyone associated with the role of Doom or any other. Sneider himself has said the tip was from an unproven source. Marvel Studios, under the leadership of long-time casting director Sarah Finn, has rarely missed on these type of major castings in part because they tend to take their time. Fans should expect that to be the case again here, as production on Fantastic Four isn’t expected to kick off until the second half of 2023.
It’s been over two years since Murphy’s Multiverse first shared the news that Marvel Studios had created a limited liability company under the name Solve Everything Productions for its Fantastic Four film. Since then, information on production has been slow coming as the project lost its original director Jon Watts. But with a new director on board, Matt Shakman, working with writers Jeff Kaplan and Ian Springer, things seem to be gearing back up. With the new crew of creatives now together and a release date of February 14, 2025, now in place, it seems Marvel Studios has turned its attention to getting production underway.
To that end, Marvel Studios has apparently locked down studio space in the UK for the production of Fantastic Four. While no dates have been made available yet, past scheduling precedent would indicate that Marvel Studios would be looking to get production underway in the Fall of 2023. With the film originally having been slated for a November 8, 2024 release, a Fall 2023 start of production would have been in line with a typical Marvel Studios production. By bumping the title’s release back 3 months, not much changes other than having some additional time to finish VFX.
Of course, there’s still a lot of work to be done before Shakman and crew can start principal photography, most importantly, finding a cast. Rumors continue to swirl about dozens of actors involved in talks for all the main roles but while it’s certainly likely that Marvel Studios is in the process of casting, no official word has fallen on the results of that process. Then there’s the completion of the script, which given the title of the production company, may likely take heavy inspiration from writer Jonathan Hickman‘s take on Marvel Comics First Family.
Given that the film is said to kick off Phase 6 of the Multiverse Saga, it wouldn’t be a…stretch…to imagine that it might take on one of Hickman’s wildest creations, The Interdimensional Council of Reeds, which was first introduced in Fantastic Four #570, ironically titled “Solve Everything: Part One.” Earth 616’s Reed Richards joined a multiversal collection of his other selves by using one of his inventions, The Bridge, which allowed him to observe and access other worlds.
With a director set in place and a set of writers tackling the script, it shouldn’t be too surprising then that stories regarding the film’s cast have begun to circulate. A new rumor from the folks at Deux Moi suggests that Marvel Studios is already looking at actors for its first family, including actors from Lucifer and Hamilton.
Per Deux Moi, Maddie Hasson and Tom Ellis are reportedly in the running for the roles of Sue Storm and Reed Richards. The site also claims that Daveed Diggs has auditioned, although it’s not specified as to which part that might have been for. It’s also rumored that Michael Provost is the favorite for Johnny Storm, while Jason Biggs is thought to have auditioned for The Thing. It’s of note that this is all merely a rumor. In fact, Deux Moi previously reported that Alexandra Daddario and her brother, Matthew Daddario, were being considered for the movie.
These names, however, are an interesting mix of up-and-coming actors and established actors. Hasson has worked on a lot of television shows, such as ABC Family’s Twisted and Peacock’s Mr. Mercedes adaptation. While Ellis is perhaps best known for his starring role in Lucifer. Diggs, of course, got his big breakout with Hamilton and has since built a rather impressive resume that includes the Snowpiercer television series and the forthcoming Little Mermaid film. As for Provost, like Hasson, he’s perhaps best known for his work on the small screen, including Netflix’s Insatiable and Fear Street: Part Two – 1978. Biggs, of course, is best known for the American Pie films, but he’s also appeared in Orange Is the New Black and recently appeared in Law & Order: Special Victims Unit.
Production on Fantastic Four is expected to kick off next year. The film is slated to hit theaters on Feb. 14th, 2025.
Marvel Studios made sweeping changes to their upcoming theatrical slate recently, shuffling the release dates of several projects in what looks to have been a game of dominoes. Upon closer look, however, it seems possible that the last domino hasn’t fallen yet.
2023
Phase 5 begins! Outside of Blade being removed from the 2023 slate, the slate remains unchanged. Two projects (Ant-Man and The Wasp: Quantumania and Loki Season 2) look to connect directly with the overarching plot of the Multiverse Saga, but The Marvels might connect to it a bit more than one might think at first glance.
2024
The changes to the 2024 slate are where things really start to fall apart and where one has to question whether or not there will be another round of changes ahead. It seems like a big factor in whether or not there are more changes will depend on how connected the Disney Plus series/special projects are to the order of things.
Originally, Phase 5 was supposed to end with Thunderbolts in July of 2024, now it looks like it will likely end with Deadpool 3 in November of 2024. Blade and Deadpool 3 (even though it wasn’t officially given a date until recently) were always a part of Phase 5, so where they land within it doesn’t seem to matter. However, as of SDCC, the first Phase 6 project was intended to be a Disney Plus series/special presentation scheduled for Fall 2024, before Fantastic Four. Then, another two Phase 6 Disney Plus projects were set to stream before the end of 2024.
With all the changes, the end date for Phase 5 has now been extended by 4 months, meaning two streaming projects that were meant to be a part of Phase 6 are now TENTATIVELY set to stream before Phase 5 concludes. Can these projects just be moved into Phase 5? It’s hard to determine without knowing the identity of the projects. Do audiences need to see the content delivered in Blade or Deadpool 3 before they can view these series? Again, hard to determine without knowing what the projects are. If they need to be included in Phase 6, Marvel Studios would have to push them into November of 2024 or later, potentially creating a content void that they seem to be trying to avoid. A lot of questions that can’t be answered, but 2024 and Phase 5 are clearly being impacted the most by the changes and potentially impacting everything else the most as a result.
Summary: Phase 5 ends later and with a different project and would currently experience an increase in the number of projects with some Phase 6 projects set to stream before Phase 6 begins.
2025
While the update on Monday revealed two pretty major changes, it also implies that more might be coming. With Fantastic Four being bumped into 2025, Avengers: Secret Wars was bumped out. However, it also means the February slot before Avengers: The Kang Dynasty is now occupied by Fantastic Four when it was clearly meant for another film up until these changes took place. The best bet as to what was intended to be there is the sequel to Shang-Chi. Both films are set to be directed by Destin Daniel Cretton and there’s been enough said to me to indicate that Shang-Chi 2 was meant to lead up to Avengers: The Kang Dynasty. With all that in mind, the slate is what it is at this point, but don’t be surprised to see further changes. One possibility is for one Avengers: The Kang Dynasty to move to the vacated November slot, opening up one of two summer spots for Shang-Chi 2. And while Disney doesn’t date Spidey films, that 4th movie is looming out there, so perhaps one of these 2025 films might come off the schedule entirely to make room for Spidey 4.
Summary: Phase 6 starts later than expected, but with the same project (Fantastic Four). It also ends later, but with the same project (Avengers: Secret Wars).
2026
As announced at SDCC ’22, Avengers: Secret Wars was intended to close out Phase 6 and the Multiverse Saga in November of 2025. The next day, Disney slated 4 Untitled Marvel Studios films for 2026, all meant to kick off Phase 7. But as the delay of Blade led to the delay of another project and another project and so on, Avengers: Secret Wars found itself bumped 5 months to May of 2026. But being the capstone project of the entire Multiverse Saga, moving Secret Wars ultimately means delaying the end of Phase 6 and the start of Phase 7.
Additionally, in shifting from November 7, 2025 to May 1, 2026, Avengers: Secret Wars actually jumped 2 dates. On the surface and without further changes, this adds a 6th film to the Phase 6 slate. We don’t know what the untitled films are, but when the slate for Phase 6 was revealed, it was comprised of 5 films. With things the way they are now, it’s 6 and this seems like a pretty major change to a slate that one would assume is pretty well planned out and only holds the requisite number of projects to tell the story. The scenario described in the 2025 section above provides some relief to that by removing one of those films to make way for Spidey 4. The best guess here is that Marvel Studios is NOT done shuffling and that these dates should be viewed as placeholders and nothing more.
Summary: Phase 6 not only ends later but with Avengers: Secret Wars jumping 2 release dates, it currently includes one additional film that was previously slated for Phase 7.
Realistically, any analysis is probably a waste of time because the only constant with Marvel Studios’ slate of projects is change. So for now, tracking the changes and thinking about how they might lead to more is both the best we can do and the worst thing we can do because it sends us down a path with no clarity just past the horizon.
Marvel Studios has found its writers for Fantastic Four. Deadline reports that Jeff Kaplan and Ian Springer are set to pen the screenplay for Fantastic Four. The outlet notes that the duo have actually been involved with the project for a bit now, having signed on before director Matt Shakman (WandaVision) officially signed on for the project. Kaplan and Springer are said to be “outlining where this next series of films will fit into the Marvel Cinematic Universe” alongside Marvel Studios President Kevin Feige. The writers will now work with Shakman to ensure they’ve all aligned their visions for the film before Kaplan and Springer crack the screenplay.
Like with many writers Marvel Studios brings on board, the duo is still relatively new to Hollywood. Prior to landing Fantastic Four, they sold Disaster Weddingto Warner Bros. which has Max Barbakow on to direct. They also penned K-Pop: Lost in America, which is set to star Rebel Wilson and Charles Melton.
The Fantastic Four reboot was first announced in 2019 with Spider-Man: No Way Home director Jon Watts originally on board to direct. Watts has since exited the project and Shakman has since signed on, with news of his hiring being announced at this year’s D23.
Fantastic Four is set to hit theaters on Nov. 8, 2024.
Even as we neared D23, there were a lot of rumors hitting the web about a potential Fantastic Four casting announcement. Even though the film won’t release until 2024, it was the talk of the town everywhere you could see. Not only did we get countless fan castings but a lot of people claimed they’d heard that the line-up would be the big reveal during D23.
The event has passed and we have nothing outside of the confirmation of Matt Shakman‘s involvement with the project. According to Deadline’s Justin Kroll, there’s a good reason we didn’t get one. Shakman has seemingly only boarded the project recently and as he’ll shapes how it’ll develop, Marvel Studios president Kevin Feige won’t start the casting process without his input.
There are exceptions like Mahershala being cast early on for BLADE role but something where its a team like F4 or X-MEN, Feige would prefer that director input and since Matt only got job a couple weeks ago very unlikely any casting decisions were made
It makes sense and it’s important that the casting process also heavily involves the director, as chemistry is important on set for everyone involved. Plus, they still have until 2024 for the film to release and the film will likely be a big draw for many names in the industry. They may have reached out for some to potentially audition but they won’t move forward without Shakman‘s insight.
Many have expected that D23 Expo would be the day that we get a lot of information on the upcoming Fantastic Four film. While we found outMatt Shakman will direct the film, it turns out that was the only reveal he had in store for the event. Sadly, it seems we’ll have to wait quite a bit longer for any real news on Fantastic Four.
Matt Shakman is directing Fantastic Four! Coming soon. There'll be another expo before that and we'll get more info soon#D23Expo
Update: Devin Faraci has taken to Twitter to clarify that he has no inside information on this rumor, which is still a rumor, just one with even less to hold onto than before.
Fantastic Four, which was formally confirmed to launch Phase 6 during Marvel Studios’ San Diego Comic-Con presentation, has been a topic of discussion among fans more frequently than almost any other MCU film in recent months. With WandaVision filmmaker Matt Shakman reportedly in talks to helm the film, the biggest question remaining is who will be cast as the First Family of Marvel.
Only a few months ago, John Krasinski brought a Marvel Cinematic Universe Reed Richards, aka Mr. Fantastic, to life in Doctor Strange in the Multiverse of Madness. However, it appears more and more unlikely that he will come back to play the Earth-616 version of Mr. Fantastic in the MCU’s first Fantastic Four solo film after providing quite a lot of fan service with his Doctor Strange role.
On the Marvelvision Podcast, former “Birth. Movies. Death.” editor-in-chief Devin Faraci reported that Marvel Studios had spoken with You star Penn Badgley about playing Reed Richards in the upcoming Fantastic Four film. Faraci had hopes for a Black actor to play Mr. Fantastic, but stated that Marvel Studios was likely going to be “very traditional” instead:
The guys that [Marvel Studios] been talking to about it are all white guys. That guy [Penn Badgley] from the show You, who probably has the role already, frankly, he’s a white guy. They’re going with the standard… And he’s terrific, by the way, that’s a good choice. But, they’re going very classical.
Devin Faraci
Marvel Studios President Kevin Feige previously stated that the hunt for the ideal stars will be long and that the crew would look for “the best actor for the position(s)” in Fantastic Four, regardless of popularity. While this is currently just a rumor, an official announcement of the film’s cast could come as early as Marvel Studios’ presentation at Disney’s D23 Expo on September 10, 2022.
Fantastic Four will make its theatrical debut on November 8, 2024.
It has been a notable day for the future of the Marvel Cinematic Universe with further confirmation that WandaVision‘s Matt Shakman has entered talks to direct Fantastic Four. This has come after a long and detailed search from Marvel Studios since the departure of Jon Watts earlier this year. With the announcement of Shakman, comes further information about the exhausting process to find the right director to helm Marvel’s first family. According to Borys Kit of The Hollywood Reporter, Michael Matthews of Love and Monsters fame was the runner-up in the Fantastic Four sweepstakes.
FF director search: sources say it came to 2 filmmakers…Shakman and Michael Matthews, who made the fun Dylan O-Brien sci-fi romp, LOVE AND MONSTERS. https://t.co/FVMJiW9czk
In addition to Matthews, it’s further been revealed that Reid Carolin was another name that met with Marvel Studios to pitch his vision of Fantastic Four. Carolin is arguably best known for his work directing the Channing Tatum-led Dog from earlier this year.
FF: Reid Carolin, who co-directed this year's Channing Tatum hit DOG, also met for the gig, according to sources. https://t.co/i3wZ5WXBeG
While interesting to compare and contrast the credentials of these two names with that of Matt Shakman, it’s certainly a futile gesture as audiences don’t have any clear understanding of what creative direction is being taken for Fantastic Four and how a different director would make some sort of difference. Nonetheless, this will remain as a type of “what if” scenario to envision how the previous works of Matthews and Carolin would’ve influenced a take on the Fantastic Four team.
In terms of Shakman, this certainly is a major score for the career of the director on the theatrical scale. While having a robust career as a director in television, Shakman has only had one feature film to his name previously. Though his work on the likes of luminary television programs such as It’s Always Sunny in Philadelphia, Fargo, and Game of Thrones should assure audiences of his qualifications. And most especially, his time directing WandaVisionshould especially make fans excited for what could be in store for Fantastic Four.
Source: Twitter.
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