Like many Marvel Studios movies and TV shows, Doctor Strange in the Multiverse of Madness underwent relatively extensive reshoots. That included adding some big names to The Illuminati, with Anson Mount's Black Bolt and John Krasinski's Mister Fantastic relatively last-minute additions to the sequel.
You'd have never guessed from watching the movie, but those two shot their scenes long after other members of the group. Back in May, Elizabeth Olsen was strapped into a lie detector by Vanity Fair and passed when she claimed to have never met Krasinski on set.
Talking to Variety, the WandaVision star has now clarified those comments by confirming she really didn't cross paths with the actor...and still hasn't actually met the MCU's Mister Fantastic!
"I was very confused when she was asking me those questions," Olsen recalls. "I also had a terrible cold while doing press, so I feel like I had no filter because I was so sick. I didn’t have COVID, but I was sick for 14 days and it was amazing doing press sick. You just don’t care!"
"But I also had never met John Krasinski. I wasn’t lying! We filmed it separately. I was with the stand-in. I don’t even know if they’d figured out he was doing it."
This isn't surprising and is actually a pretty standard way to protect spoilers and work around the busy schedules of actors. It's previously been rumoured that there were other stand-ins for characters like Magneto and Balder, though it's unlikely those scenes will ever see the light of day.
As for poor old Reed Richards, the Fantastic Four leader on Earth-838 was turned to spaghetti by the Scarlet Witch before his head was popped. If Krasinski ends up playing the character in the MCU, Olsen might just get her chance to meet him, but it all depends on whether his Doctor Strange in the Multiverse of Madness cameo was one-and-done or the start of something bigger.
Fantastic Four is set to be released in theaters on November 8, 2024.