During shooting on Star Wars: Episode I – The Phantom Menace, Liam Neeson thought he was working with the next Eddie Murphy, such was his first impression of Ahmed Best’s talent. As unfortunate as it may sound, playing Jar Jar Binks in the Prequel Trilogy’s first installment effectively killed the young star’s career before it had even really started.
The backlash thrown in Best’s direction was immense and unrelenting, so it’s lucky that social media wasn’t around in those days or it would have been ten times worse, but it still had a seriously adverse effect on his mental health and person well-being. The 47 year-old has long since made his peace with the fact he’ll forever be tied to Jar Jar, and he’s even reprised the role in several animated shows and video games.
However, he’s now outlining his intentions for another major Disney-owned property, after officially declaring his interest in becoming the Marvel Cinematic Universe’s Reed Richards whenever Jon Watts’ Fantastic Four reboot rolls around, which you can check out below.
Almost as soon as Jonathan Majors was cast as Kang the Conqueror, the very same line of inquiry began making the rounds online, which is one of the main reasons why Tenet star John David Washington regularly finds himself at the forefront of the conversation when casting talk for the MCU’s Mister Fantastic rears its head.
A lot of fans would still prefer John Krasinski and Emily Blunt over anyone else, though, but we can probably say with some degree of certainty that Ahmed Best won’t be in the thick of it when the Fantastic Four audition process begins in earnest, which might be before the end of this year.
