It’s hard to tell for certain what’s really going on with Josh Trank’s Fantastic Four reboot over at 20th Century Fox, since we haven’t been given any official plot details just yet. Today, however, the project has taken another step forward as Variety is reporting that the titular superhero group has been cast.
We’ve known for a while now that Michael B. Jordan (Friday Night Lights, Fruitvale Station) is up to play Johnny Storm, AKA The Human Torch, and that Miles Teller (The Spectacular Now) is in talks to play Mr. Fantastic himself, Reed Richards. Now, we have word that House of Cards star Kate Mara has signed on to play Sue Storm/The Invisible Woman and Jamie Bell (The Adventures of Tintin) has been offered the role of Ben Grimm, better known as the rock-infused muscle of the team, The Thing.
The first thing you may notice about this casting is that the actors mentioned here are all relatively young, meaning Fox is going in a new direction with these characters. Variety describes the film as “based on the comic The Ultimate Fantastic Four,” and says it will be “a contemporary update with focus on the characters as young men and women.”
This will definitely help the film stand apart from the previous two abominations, 2005’s Fantastic Four and its sequel, Fantastic Four: Rise of the Silver Surfer. However, fans have already been voicing their concerns about the casting news, specifically when it comes to Bell’s role as The Thing. He’s definitely no Michael Chiklis, and it’s fair to say that he isn’t quite the physical embodiment of the character. Of course, most of the role will be performed with motion-capture, with a digital rendering of his rocky physique being used for the majority of the film, so perhaps it will work out. Still, casting a relatively scrawny actor is a bold move by Fox.
With the four leads now set, Fox is on the hunt for someone to play the villain (confirmed to be Doctor Doom, though the villain’s gender is currently in flux). Unfortunately, we have no word on who they have their eye on but I would expect to hear something shortly.
Tell us, dear readers, what do you think of the casting for Fantastic Four? Are these actors right for the roles, or do you not like the younger direction the franchise is taking? Let us know in the comments below.
