Once Disney finally completed their takeover of Fox, most of the conversation immediately turned to the Marvel Cinematic Universe, now that the most lucrative franchise in history had finally secured the rights to several of their comic book crown jewels. While fans are already getting excited about the prospect of the X-Men and the Fantastic Four joining the MCU, it appears as though they’ll have to wait a while yet for the respective teams to make their debuts at their new home.
The slow movement on Deadpool 3 has been a source of frustration for many, with Ryan Reynolds admitting that he isn’t sure when he’ll get the chance to make the third installment, and it increasingly appears as though we won’t see the Merc with a Mouth return to our screens until late 2023 at the very earliest. Given that the movie already has a star in place and the character’s self-aware nature means that the project doesn’t need to be a full-blown reboot, Deadpool 3 is already miles ahead of either X-Men or Fantastic Four in terms of development, and it might even be Phase Six before we see the latest reinventions for the latter two.
That being said, given the high-priority nature of both, you can guarantee that Kevin Feige and his team are already starting to put the pieces into place at Marvel HQ, and recent rumors doing the rounds have hinted that early casting discussions are already underway. As well as reports that John Krasinski is finally in official talks to board the Fantastic Four, which has an air of inevitability at this point, it’s also being reported that Breaking Bad star Giancarlo Esposito is in discussions with the studio about an undisclosed role.
MCU's Fantastic Four and X-Men will be primarily based on their Earth-1610 counterparts. John Krasinski and Giancarlo Esposito in talks to portray the leading roles. Ultimatum WILL NOT be adapted to the MCU.
— Roger Wardell (@WardellRoger) May 6, 2020
While many people would love to see him as the DCEU’s Mr. Freeze, there are also countless parts he could play for their rivals. We previously reported that Esposito was being eyed for Professor X, while First Class writer Zack Stentz believes he would be an equally good fit for Magneto. The 62 year-old’s cold, calculating screen persona would also make him a standout candidate for Doctor Doom, and if the hugely talented actor ends up joining the MCU, then he’ll no doubt knock it out of the park regardless of who he’s playing.
