Don’t look now, Deadpool 3, but there’s a strong case to be made that Fantastic Four is the most hyped upcoming MCU movie. Especially with all these exciting casting rumors.
After The Marvels has failed to ignite a spark at the box office, the thinking is that the future of the Marvel multiverse rests on both iconic IPs and big-name actors. So a reboot of the franchise’s First Family potentially led by the internet’s favorite zaddy Pedro Pascal should be a winning recipe for success. And it probably can’t hurt if that same reboot swipes its villain from one of Marvel’s biggest rivals of 2023.
Yes, in a development that’s dripping with irony, rumored intel points to the studio finding what could be its next major villain in the movie that knocked its best performing film of the year out of the box office top three. All right, cards on the table; insider MyTimeToShineHello is claiming that Oppenheimer‘s Cillian Murphy is Marvel’s top choice to play Doctor Doom.
Murphy joining the MCU would be an entertaining twist for his fans as he’s long been competing against Marvel. Of course, he was Scarecrow in Christopher Nolan’s Dark Knight trilogy and, in 2023, he reunited with old pal Nolan for Oppenheimer. Although Guardians of the Galaxy Vol. 3 earned more than the biopic at the domestic box office, the “Barbenheimer” phenomenon ensured that Oppenheimer beat the Marvel threequel’s gross worldwide.
Guardians 3 brought home $845.6 million, all things considered, while Nolan’s epic earned $950 million. Barring a very shocking surprise in December, then, Oppenheimer is set to rank as 2023’s third highest-grossing movie, knocking Guardians into fourth place. So Marvel turning to Murphy to add his obvious box office sway to Fantastic Four a matter of mere months later would be an unexpected, but not unintelligent, turn of events.
And, if rumors of Doom potentially replacing Kang as the big bad of Avengers: Secret Wars are accurate, Murphy’s cinematic magic might be just what the Multiverse Saga’s conclusion needs to ensure it can make a “Barbenheimer”-style splash off its own come May 2027.