John Krasinski as the Fantastic Four‘s Reed Richards? That’s the latest bit of fan casting picking up steam, after some awesome new art pictured the former Office star in the role. With the actor having flirted with comic book movies in the past, it’s not entirely outside the realm of possibility that he might show up in a Marvel production one day and frankly, Richards would be a good role for him.
After all, thanks to Disney’s monumental acquisition of 20th Century Fox and its entertainment assets, one that will have far-reaching implications for the entertainment industry at large, we know that Kevin Feige and Co. now have the chance to reboot the Fantastic Four and incorporate Marvel’s First Family into the MCU, which means that you can bet that they’re already eyeing Hollywood’s hottest talent as they start thinking about who they want to cast in the four titular roles.
Granted, after three forgettable superhero movies in only 10 years, there are signs of franchise fatigue beginning to seep into the Fantastic Four brand, so Marvel Studios will certainly need to capture lightning in a bottle twice (read: Spider-Man: Homecoming) if it’s to make the First Family relevant once more.
Anyways, circling back to Krasinski, and there’s obviously been nothing official on the matter just yet, but the actor is, at the very least, aware of the fan casting and the awesome photo, taking to Twitter to say, “Wait… how did you get this picture??? Only my wife knows what I wear to bed!” Of course, that’s hardly a confirmation of anything, but it’s good to know that this has his attention and with any luck, something might just come of it.
Whatever ends up happening here though, if anything, it’s a long, long ways off, as Marvel has a number of other projects on their slate that they need to address first. Up next, of course, will be Black Panther. It’ll enter the MCU very soon – February 16th for those in the States – which isn’t something that can be said about the Fantastic Four. The historic, Earth-shaking merger between Disney and Fox will likely take another three or four years to fully consummate, so don’t expect any signs of a potential crossover until at least 2020.