It’s only a matter of time before the Fantastic Four make their debut in the MCU, and while it likely won’t happen for a while yet, fans are dutifully casting the roles in anticipation. In fact, an increasingly popular choice for Reed Richards is Brandon Routh.
Usually when the topic of Reed’s casting comes up, people are eager for John Krasinski to don the extendable spandex, typically accompanied by a desire to see real-life wife Emily Blunt beside him as Sue Storm, but Routh is swiftly gaining on him, especially among many who hadn’t considered him until he was suggested, as you can see below.
Here’s my MCU Fantastic Four Fancast pic.twitter.com/FRhX32uif2
— Trashyy (@rversefilm) April 14, 2021
BRANDON ROUTH AS MCU's REED RICHARDS 🤞
— DededeHero (@DokkanAndRaptor) April 14, 2021
Brandon Routh is definitely one of my top picks for Reed Richards, but here's my personal fan cast for the others:
Emily Bett As The Invisible Woman
Ross Lynch As The Human Torch
Alan Ritchson As The Thing pic.twitter.com/cLEO9yHc4b— 2KO (@SPIDEY1500) April 14, 2021
https://twitter.com/johnlovesfilms/status/1382433036764057600
dude this is actual a perfect cast. Brandon Routh is one of my favorite dudes ever and he'd be amazing as Reed Richards. Ray Palmer (The Atom) who Routh has already played in DC Comics, is a super genius just like Reed Richards so it be a great fit. https://t.co/5mfNhy2N50
— Golden Gate Sith Lord 🌁 🌉 (@FranciscanJedi) April 14, 2021
Reed Richards – Brandon Routh
Susan Storm – Natalie Dormer
Johnny Storm – Sam Claflin
Ben Grimm – Michael Cudlitz pic.twitter.com/ssuPcKziNa— Wo (@ReDamos64) April 15, 2021
just dropping my Fantastic Four fancast on the timeline 🙂 pic.twitter.com/y6b06e8WKY
— Luke (@qLxke_) April 13, 2021
Brandon Routh should be casted as Reed Richards
— Vash The Stampede (@J_18910) April 15, 2021
Brandon Routh as Reed Richards is something I never knew I wanted. Would love to see him be a dick for a change.
— dylan 🍒 (@AuramAlexander) April 15, 2021
https://twitter.com/HailMother/status/1381568722389897216
Of course, Routh has previous form in comic book properties, having played Ray Palmer/Atom in Arrow and Legends of Tomorrow, as well as two version of the Man of Steel, the hopeful all-American hero from Superman Returns and the bereaved incarnation from the Elseworlds miniseries Kingdom Come who featured in the “Crisis on Infinite Earths” crossover. He also has experience in nerd roles from an antagonist part in Scott Pilgrim vs. the World and a supporting stint in action comedy TV series Chuck. Not to mention he starred in Dylan Dog: Dead of Night, but honestly, the less said about that one the better.
It was assumed by many that WandaVision’s reference to Monica Rambeau’s aerospace engineer friend would turn out to be Reed, and folks were disappointed when it didn’t. However, unlike the fakeout Quicksilver, it was never intended for people to draw this conclusion and was just over-excitable fans reading too much into an innocuous comment.
When Reed Richards and the rest of Marvel’s First Family make their debut, it will be in a Fantastic Four movie, introducing Reed as a genius scientist and engineer on the level of Tony Stark. Given this, Routh’s previous role of the not entirely unrelated Ray Palmer could set him in good stead to become Mr. Fantastic.