THE FANTASTIC FOUR Star Pedro Pascal Will Have An "Integral" Role In AVENGERS: DOOMSDAY - But Is He The Lead?

THE FANTASTIC FOUR Star Pedro Pascal Will Have An "Integral" Role In AVENGERS: DOOMSDAY - But Is He The Lead?

The trades have weighed in on who will lead the Avengers: Doomsday cast, but will The Fantastic Four: First Steps' Pedro Pascal be front and centre in the movie? You can find the latest on that here...

By JoshWilding - Jul 31, 2025 06:07 AM EST
Filed Under: Avengers: Doomsday
Source: Variety

The Fantastic Four: First Steps star Pedro Pascal has repeatedly denied that Reed Richards will lead Earth's Mightiest Heroes in Avengers: Doomsday. Marvel's First Family is expected to be integral to the story, but talk of Mister Fantastic being in charge stemmed from filmmaker Matt Shakman's comments being taken out of context.

Variety has now chimed in, confirming that "Pascal is not the centerpiece, but does have an integral role." This comes after reports about Chris Hemsworth's Thor being one of the movie's leads; however, similar to Thanos in Avengers: Infinity War, it appears the villainous Doctor Doom will be at the heart of this story. 

The trade notes, "'Avengers: Doomsday' will feature at least one mega-payday in Robert Downey Jr., who is returning to the Marvel fold as villain Doctor Doom. Sources say Downey Jr. has earned between $500 million and $600 million over the course of seven Marvel movies and three cameos and won’t be working at a discount on 'Doomsday'; neither will Chris Hemsworth, who’s returning as Thor."

It's hardly a surprise to learn that Downey will make a huge amount of money for his MCU return, but he's also repeatedly proven to be one of Marvel Studios' biggest box office draws. 

Whether that will extend to him swapping Iron Man's armour for Doctor Doom's remains to be seen, though we'd bet on his face being featured heavily in marketing (perhaps explaining The Fantastic Four: First Steps' mid-credits scene). 

Leaked concept art for Avengers: Secret Wars [SPOILER WARNING] showed the Fantastic Four at Doom's mercy in his Battleworld, with Sue and Franklin part of his royal court, Reed captured before him, and Johnny being constantly covered by water to stop him from flaming on.

The Thing's fate isn't known, but things get pretty dark for poor Ben in the Secret Wars comic.

"It’s big news to me, that’s for one," Pascal recently said of possibly leading the Avengers. "I think Matt Shakman was doing an interview and when he was speaking about Reed...there is something that happens in the comics where he is sort of drawn in by the Avengers family and asked to be put into a leadership position."

He added, "That is something that happens in the comics. It isn’t necessarily something that my character’s future entails."

Avengers: Doomsday stars Chris Hemsworth, Anthony Mackie, Winston Duke, Tom Hiddleston, Sebastian Stan, Letitia Wright, Paul Rudd, and Robert Downey Jr. Wyatt Russell, Simu Liu, Tenoch Huerta Mejia, Florence Pugh, Danny Ramirez, David Harbour, Hannah John-Kamen, and Lewis Pullman all make the Avengers franchise debuts in the movie. 

The Fantastic Four: First Steps leads Pedro Pascal, Vanessa Kirby, Ebon Moss-Bachrach, and Joseph Quinn join them, as do X-Men franchise stars Kelsey Grammer, Patrick Stewart, Ian McKellen, Alan Cumming, Rebecca Romijn, James Marsden, and Deadpool & Wolverine star Channing Tatum.

The Russo Brothers direct the movie from a script by Stephen McFeely, with whom they previously collaborated on the Captain America and Avengers franchises.

Avengers: Doomsday is set to be released on December 18, 2026, with Avengers: Secret Wars scheduled to arrive on December 17, 2027.

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bkmeijer1
bkmeijer1 - 7/31/2025, 6:49 AM
Not surprisingly, the main villain is his arch nemesis, said guy will probably even steal his son, and he's smart enough to figure out how to prevent multiversal collapse
McMurdo
McMurdo - 7/31/2025, 2:54 PM
@bkmeijer1 - I mean is he? Dude's first "great" idea is to teleport earth.....and if you know even the slightest bit about physics, gravity, orbital dynamics etc, you'd be acutely aware that teleporting earth would cause planetary genocide in too many ways to count: loss of atmosphere, inertia akin to a car crashing into a brick wall at supersonic speeds, death instantaneously on a massive scale.

Nothing in the FF film screams that Reed is a genius thus far lol. I mean this guy then went with a baby swap to trick the cosmic giant who just scanned his wife's belly in their prior meeting for immediate data.

You need smart writers to write smart characters. Hopefully McFeely is quite the upgrade for the character of Reed.
bkmeijer1
bkmeijer1 - 7/31/2025, 5:42 PM
@McMurdo - I gave him a pass because he seemed to understand the goldilocks zone. But yeah, he could've worked it out a little better
AllsGood
AllsGood - 7/31/2025, 6:50 AM
The Fantastic Four: First Steps.

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Gabimaru
Gabimaru - 7/31/2025, 6:57 AM
It's called doomsday and they are rivalry geniuses
TheVisionary25
TheVisionary25 - 7/31/2025, 7:04 AM
I mean if true then I’m glad to hear he would be integral to the film but also no shit he isn’t the centerpiece since that will likely be the guy that the movie is (partially) named after…

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Some characters might have more narrative importance & screentime than others but I think it will be Doom’s story since he’s the character that needs the most fleshing out right now.

Anyway , do hope we get some good interactions between Pascal’s Reed and RDJ’s Victor since I think both could tear that up!!.
1stDalek
1stDalek - 7/31/2025, 1:24 PM
@TheVisionary25 - True, they're likely going to replicate what they did with Thanos so: Doomsday= Doom is the lead -> Secret Wars= Reed is the lead
MaximusTheMad
MaximusTheMad - 7/31/2025, 7:19 AM
Pedro Pascal is literally my favorite MCU actor now. Charlie Cox and Jon Bernthal aren't far behind though.
soberchimera
soberchimera - 7/31/2025, 10:03 AM
@MaximusTheMad - I actually enjoyed his take on Reed more than Kirby’s take on Sue. Was he the best choice for the role? No, but he was serviceable, and he just needs to lose that facial hair that he sports in every single tv and movie since 2013.
McMurdo
McMurdo - 7/31/2025, 2:54 PM
@MaximusTheMad - why?
TheNewYorkerr
TheNewYorkerr - 7/31/2025, 7:20 AM
I just hope they make him smarter. I mean, he didn’t come across as brainy as his past iterations did.
Simonsonrules
Simonsonrules - 7/31/2025, 8:10 AM
@TheNewYorkerr - Your right. He's the only guy in 1960s world who has a spaceship with warp capability parked behind his skyscraper in Manhattan. He struck me as a real idiot.
Apophis71
Apophis71 - 7/31/2025, 9:44 AM
@TheNewYorkerr - Shame if for you he didn't come across as smart but maybe a tad revisionist memory that prior ones seemed to be cos the Tim Story version was struggling to pay rent with little in the way a groundbreaking patents to his name it seemed at first so started out more run of the mill inventor of the Clive Sinclair type level rather than super genious.

I mean the 00's version was set in the 00's and initialy little if anything he had invented didn't already exist IRL at that time as his spacship wasn't much different in most ways that matter to what already existed and couldn't afford to fund and build it himself.

The next one after him I aint gonna get into as yes he did invent something that doesn't exist but SO much was wrong about that film it isn't worth delving into beyond again it was again a modern day 2015ish setting and this version we know will have tech of that sort of ability, but better, in his 1960's Earth in order to have turned up in the Thunderbolts end credit.

This one was selling AI robots available to the public that we STILL don't fully have around 60yrs later, a spaceship safe enough to launch from a city (at a time when most of Space X ones seem to be blowing up) with the addition FTL which we are still decades away from having. He has a fully working flying car ready to go on the market which is only just becoming a reality for us and RL ones are using over 100yr old tech of propeller blades not anything truly new and teleportation tech which we've barely started getting to let alone open the possibility it could be used for interdimensional travel too. He has also managed to not only have his own advanced toys for use in hero work but advanced all of society at an incredibly accelerated rate single handedly making him super rich too.

So, again if it wasn't sold to you how smart he is that is a shame but he is lightyears ahead of the prior two versions on tech advancements and ability to reap the rewards from that in several differing ways decades before the prior version gained their powers etc in the last three F4 films.

Once we see him alongside all the rest of the MCU characters however it will likely be easier to get a grasp that he REALY IS the smartest guy in the room even when that includes BP's Shuri, Avengers Banner and Xmen's Beast to name a few of the remaining big brains of Fox films and Marvel studios ones.
TheNewYorkerr
TheNewYorkerr - 7/31/2025, 9:45 AM
@Simonsonrules - But was he though..
TheNewYorkerr
TheNewYorkerr - 7/31/2025, 9:51 AM
@Apophis71 - I don’t recall typing he didn’t seem smart, or that he was an “idiot”. Weird comprehension skills.

But okay, geez. Smartest man on the planet, WITH A SPACESHIP, I got it lol
Apophis71
Apophis71 - 7/31/2025, 10:12 AM
@TheNewYorkerr - You stated 'make him smarter' and 'didn’t come across as brainy as his past iterations did'

I addressed it is a shame if he didn't came across that way for you but pointed out how he factualy had to be more brainy than the past iterations as he had WAY more groundbreaking advancements than either of them and did so decades earlier than they did thus making it a greater feat of genius to do plus had the additional smarts to reap the fiscal rewards from it from the jump.

As I say both prior versions came across as Clive Sinclair level smart in the main, came up with great ideas but not giant leaps of tech much beyond where we are tech wise at the times they were set in as tried to paint them more grouned in plausible reality at first. This one perfected stuff Howard Stark couldn't in a similar time period making him at minimum likely to be as smart as Tony and probably has the edge on Iron Man with advancements in part due to doing it so long ago timeline wise, at worst on par with each other.

If you assessment is fair, they only need to sell him better as smart, they don't need to make him smarter.
McMurdo
McMurdo - 7/31/2025, 2:55 PM
@TheNewYorkerr - he was a moron in the film. Teleporting earth and baby swap are 2 plans comic book Reed doesnt even consider for a milisecond.
McMurdo
McMurdo - 7/31/2025, 2:56 PM
@Simonsonrules - he wanted to teleport Earth bro, something comic Reed always refused to even consider a option because physics exist.
Simonsonrules
Simonsonrules - 7/31/2025, 6:33 PM
@McMurdo - You got me bro. Physics do exist. I stand corrected. Reed is a blithering idiot in the movie. You've all convinced me. What a horrible turn of events.
SuperCat
SuperCat - 7/31/2025, 7:42 AM
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JacobsLadder
JacobsLadder - 7/31/2025, 8:09 AM
Stop it. That dude? the leader of the Avengers? Mr. I want to move the Earth to another solar system within 2% of the inhabitable zone? That guy?
McMurdo
McMurdo - 7/31/2025, 2:57 PM
@JacobsLadder - quite possibly the very worst possible plan Reed could have come up with. Really undermines his intelligence as a character too. The basic laymen who took physics 101 can tell you why that one won't work out.
JacobsLadder
JacobsLadder - 7/31/2025, 3:12 PM
@McMurdo - somebody thought of that and other people said 'yeah, that's awesome.' 2% is OK right? Did they even include the Moon? clown world.
DocSpock
DocSpock - 7/31/2025, 8:39 AM

Reed Richards is now the prince harry of the MCU.
dragon316
dragon316 - 7/31/2025, 8:49 AM
Robert Downey jr not working at discount but they want Jeremy renner shaft in paycheck
theFUZZ008
theFUZZ008 - 7/31/2025, 9:14 AM
Pedro Pascal, he's a boring [frick].

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RogerWilco
RogerWilco - 7/31/2025, 10:12 AM
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CreateNowSlpL8r
CreateNowSlpL8r - 7/31/2025, 10:24 AM
2015 Secret Wars might be the last project Jonathan Hickman actually finished.
MaximusTheMad
MaximusTheMad - 7/31/2025, 10:51 AM
To anyone complaining about Reed's facial hair...

Listen.

All the MCU heroes have facial hair now. It's a cool thing that distinguishes each face.

I think Reed's smooth mustache fits the 1960's style aesthetic. It's better than the frickin goatee they've given everybody else.

Thor and Wolverine have classic cool characteristic facial hair...

But WHY did Daredevil have a pseudo goatee in Born again?

Don't even get me started on Star-Lords awkward facial hair.

And Namor? They gave him a Mexican beard for some reason.

What about Black Panther, Luke Cage and Falcon? An angry Black man's goatee.

And wtf was Winter Soldier at the end of Thunderbolts?

I mean EVEN QUICKSILVER had facial hair in Avengers 2 for some reason.

Iron Fist's awkard ass beard is the weirdest decision of them all though.

Next they'll probably give beards to most of the X-Men including Prof X, Cyclops and Nightcrawler.

The only beardless human male heroes in the MCU are The Thing, Human Torch, Ant-Man, Spider-Man, Hulk, Moon Knight, Hawkeye and Punisher (when he decides to kill people).
McMurdo
McMurdo - 7/31/2025, 2:57 PM
@MaximusTheMad - the facial hair is the least of his issues. They made him an idiot in the film.
MountBedlam
MountBedlam - 7/31/2025, 11:08 AM
Why would Mr. Fantastic be the lead in a Avengers movie?????? Not enough Avengers to go around?
WalletsClosed
WalletsClosed - 7/31/2025, 11:50 AM
@MountBedlam - Because it's not really an Avengers movie. They're just using that name because it's their biggest seller. The same way Infinity War and Endgame weren't Avengers movies (Not really at least). They're event movies. The only true Avengers movies are Avengers 1, AoU, and Civil War. Infinity War, Endgame, Doomsday, and Secret Wars are event films that bring together the entire universe.
1stDalek
1stDalek - 7/31/2025, 1:34 PM
@MountBedlam - As WalletClosed said they're designed to bring the whole canvas together rather than just show the Avengers doing an adventure. The name no longer symbolizes a team it's just an event film moniker that denotes a broader story ending. A more accurate name for this upcoming duology, and IW/EG, would be "Marvel's (subtitle)" because that's what they really are.
1stDalek
1stDalek - 7/31/2025, 1:21 PM
They're fighting Dr Doom in the duology, it stands to reason the F4 and Reed in particular are going to lead the ensemble. Honestly, it would feel wrong if they don't as that's they're villain.
AnthonyVonGeek
AnthonyVonGeek - 7/31/2025, 1:31 PM
Pedro is a decent supporting actor but he has zero charisma as a lead actor.
McMurdo
McMurdo - 7/31/2025, 2:59 PM
@AnthonyVonGeek - a big part of it is the writing for Reed too.
AnthonyVonGeek
AnthonyVonGeek - 7/31/2025, 6:24 PM
@McMurdo - User Comment Image

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