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Marvel Will Reveal Fantastic Four Cast After Actors Strike Ends

Marvel Studios has already cast its Fantastic Four, though the announcement won’t be made until the SAG-AFTRA strike ends.

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In an interview with Collider, Fantastic Four director Matt Shakman was asked when he thought the production might be able to share news of who’d been cast as Marvel’s First Family. He replied, “Hard to say. Like I said, we’re in the middle of a SAG strike, and I’m keeping my fingers crossed that they get a great deal really soon and we can go back. Then, once that’s resolved, there’ll be a plan at that point, but I can’t say too much. There will be an announcement at some point! I know that the internet is very excited to find out, and I’m excited to share it. I just can’t do it yet.”

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While Shakman didn’t provide details, the “I’m excited to share it” portion of the quote above seems to make clear the Marvel Cinematic Universe roles have, in fact, been cast. At the time of writing, we have no idea who will play the Fantastic Four. There have, among other people, been rumors of such actors as Vanessa Kirby, Penn Badgley, Joseph Quinn, and Matt Smith joining the project.

Most recently, the role of Reed Richards, AKA Mister Fantastic, was played by John Krasinski. He played a version of the character in Doctor Strange in the Multiverse of Madness, and has been a longtime fan-favorite for the role. However, as that version of Krasinski was not part of the main universe in which most MCU movies take place, there’s no guarantee at this time that he’ll return

The SAG-AFTRA strike began in July and has brought Hollywood to a standstill. The strike sees actors fighting for fairer wages and for limitations on the use of artificial intelligence on projects. At the time of writing, the strike is still ongoing, and there’s no clear end date in sight.

At the time of writing, Fantastic Four is slated for release on May 2, 2025.


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Liam Nolan
Liam Nolan has been the Managing Editor at The Escapist since August 2023, during which time he's covered Final Fantasy 7 Rebirth, Starfield, and several other major releases. After getting his Master of Arts in English in 2016, he began writing about comics, television, movies, and video games, with his work appearing at such outlets as Marvel.com, CBR, and The Mary Sue. When he's not writing on pop culture, you can find Liam working on his creative projects or traveling. You can follow him on Twitter @LD_Nolan or on Bluesky @ldnolan.bsky.social.