It’s ironic that, despite all those actors — everyone from Adam Driver to Penn Badgley — who have been furiously theorized as the MCU’s Reed Richards over the past few years, maybe all we needed to do was look at the most prolific and popular actor around. Pedro Pascal, are you our new Mr. Fantastic?
As originally reported by Deadline, The Last of Us icon is being touted as Marvel’s top choice to bring the stretchy superhero back to life, following on from the likes of Ioan Gruffudd, Miles Teller, and the MCU’s own John Krasinski. With Pascal perhaps the busiest guy in Hollywood these days, however, fans can’t help but have their excitement tempered by anxiety that our gaining a potential Mr. Fantastic could cost us a Mandalorian.
Pedro Pascal’s hectic schedule could either lose him Fantastic Four or The Mandalorian
At a time when Marvel needs to seduce viewers back to the MCU more than ever, hiring such a beloved star as Pedro Pascal to lead one of its most anticipated upcoming projects, in the Fantastic Four reboot, would be a super-smart move worthy of Reed Richards himself. However, it’s important to stress that Deadline’s report states a “deal is far from done” between the two parties.
The hold-up, as could be expected, concerns just how ridiculously stacked Pascal’s upcoming slate of projects is, with Deadline noting that “the scheduling is still being worked out.” It’s entirely likely, then, that something’s got to give for an actor who’s already working on The Last of Us season 2, Gladiator 2, and has continued commitments to Disney’s own The Mandalorian. And if one of those has to go, it’s likely to be Mando.
Before the Fantastic Four news even broke, Bespin Bulletin reported that Pascal would not be involved in filming on Mandalorian season 4 due to his other commitments, meaning that fans can likely expect Din Djarin not to unmask once again in the next run of the Star Wars hit show. If this was already the case before he may have landed the role of Reed Richards, it seems extremely likely Pascal will remain aboard the show only as a voice performer going forward.
So could Pascal taking up residence in the Baxter Building cause him to fly out of the Star Wars galaxy? Well, maybe not entirely, as we’ll still hear his silky tones coming out of that beskar helmet, but if Marvel really does hire him as Mr. Fantastic 4.0 then expect Din Djarin to stay masked forever more as The Mandalorian continues.
Fantastic Four is slated for release on May 2, 2025.