Marvel Studios is in desperate need of some good news right now. After Ant-Man and the Wasp: Quantumania bombed, the MCU has been rocked off its axis by another debilitating blow by the fact it’s very likely that Jonathan Majors, the big bad of the Multiverse Saga himself, will have to be recast in response to assault allegations. Guardians of the Galaxy Vol. 3 will hopefully inject some good will back into the franchise, but given that it’s the last in its trilogy it can’t exactly install faith in the future.
But you know what can? Marvel’s First Family themselves, the Fantastic Four. WandaVision director Matt Shakman’s upcoming reboot of the team is one of the most purely hyped projects on the MCU’s upcoming slate as everyone is so thrilled to learn who the studio is casting as Mr. Fantastic, Invisible Woman, Human Torch, and the Thing. Unfortunately, Kevin Feige refuses to be forthcoming right now, but if he’s short of ideas, luckily for him, he need look no further.
If Marvel announced any of the following formations of the fantastic foursome — ranging from solid if unexciting choices to left-field picks that might just be crazy enough to work — in the coming weeks, it could just be the big break the MCU so dearly needs. Oh, and, Mr. Feige, if this happens to give you any ideas, all we ask is a namecheck in the credits (plus a six-figure fee, but we’ll discuss that later).
The Driver team
The latest word on the street has it that Adam Driver is secretly signing along the dotted line as our new Reed Richards, so let’s imagine who could join him in Shakman’s ensemble cast. Well, Adria Arjona reliably gives her all to every project she’s in (see Andor) and she truly deserves another crack at the Marvel whip after Morbius. Jay Lycurgo has already stormed the DC multiverse thanks to Titans and The Batman so he needs to tick the MCU of his to-do list next as Johnny Storm. Last but not least… Jack Black as the Thing. I mean, that says it all, right? The defense rests.
The predictable team
Meanwhile, here’s a lineup we’ll call “the predictable team,” so labeled because it’s the specific roll-call that was expected to drop at last September’s (disappointing) D23 and is therefore a little stale at this point. All in all, Penn Badgley (You), Jodie Comer (Killing Eve), Joe Keery (Stranger Things), and Jason Segal (How I Met Your Mother) would be an interesting collection of performers to bring the characters back to life, but after this roster leaked already it would be somewhat underwhelming now if they became the official FF. That said, we’d love to see all of these guys in the franchise somewhere.
The fans’ dream team
Meanwhile, if you were to poll the Marvel fandom on who they’d love to see in the roles, the lineup might look something like this. The Quiet Place alums John Krasinski and Emily Blunt have obviously been the fan-favorite Reed Richards and Sue Storm for the longest time, with Doctor Strange 2‘s Krasinski cameo only fueling hopes this could become a reality. Likewise, John Boyega (Star Wars) is a popular choice for Johnny Storm, and Alan Ritchson (Jack Reacher) is often named as the perfect Ben Grimm. This cast would give the folks what they want, but maybe not what they need.
The lackluster team
On the other end of the scale, if Marvel unveiled that Fantastic Four was set to star this quartet, we suspect the internet might let out a collective “meh?” With no offence intended to either Jamie Dornan (Belfast), Amanda Seyfried (Mamma Mia), Zac Efron (Firestarter), or Seth Rogen (The Lion King), none of these hirings would be particularly interesting as we’re not so sure they would bring anything fresh to their roles. These four stars have been turning up in uninspired fan castings for years so we’d probably all just shrug if they actually got the gig.
The so-wild-it-just-might-work team
And yet, if Marvel lost their minds and filled the Fantastic Four with these actors, there would no doubt be cries of surprise and maybe even outrage. But, hear us out, as this lineup may just be crazy enough to work. Ted Lasso‘s Jason Sudeikis might make an unexpectedly perfect Mr. F and we’d take Blake Lively as Invisible Woman over Gossip Girl co-star Badgley as Reed, thanks. Euphoria‘s Jacob Elordi might not be who we immediately think of for Johnny Storm, but he could pull it off. And Kevin Hart‘s recent turn towards more dramatic roles means he might turn out to be our best shot for Ben Grimm.
The curveball team
You know what, it might be to Marvel’s benefit to sideline all the frequent fan-castings seen on the socials and instead go to town on reimagining these familiar heroes with some unexpected choices. Cowboy Bebop‘s John Cho could be a brilliant yet completely unexpected Mr. Fantastic and Jessica Chastain definitely deserves another shot at a Marvel role after Dark Phoenix let her down. Liam Hemsworth (The Hunger Games) is long overdue for a spot in the MCU after losing Thor to his brother and Peacemaker has proven that John Cena is a better actor than we realized.
The refreshing team
In a similar vein, it would be really refreshing to have a Fantastic Four cast made up of these four actors. Despite Marvel’s increasing interest in diversifying its cache of characters, fans still tend to imagine a fully Caucasian cast for the FF reboot. But it’s not entirely out of the question that the lineup could be made up of people of color. Like, say, Dev Patel (The Green Knight), Constance Wu (Crazy Rich Asians), and Tenet‘s John David Washington, all of whom would be amazing additions to the franchise. And Terry Crews as Ben Grimm — you can totally see it, right?
The internet-breaking team
If Marvel’s only aim with casting the Fantastic Four was to grab headlines, though, then they should absolutely cast these guys as social media would spontaneously combust if the studio unveiled this lineup. Imagine Bridgerton heartthrob Regé-Jean Page hired as Reed out of nowhere? Or X-Men alum Jennifer Lawrence randomly returning to the Marvel multiverse as Sue? Meanwhile, Outer Banks’ fave Rudy Pankow has a lot of feral supporters while the hilarity of casting the actual Rock as the rock-based the Thing speaks for itself.
We’ve made our picks plain. Now it’s over to you, Feige…
