Fan Cast: Who Should Play the Next Fantastic Four?

We as fan have dreamed of seeing the likes of Wolverine standing side-by-side with the Avengers as Spider-Man swings overhead and The Thing pummels some poor one-dimensional villain to smithereens. Sony shocked us all by sharing the rights to Spider-Man (though unfortunately not everyone was so lucky *cough* Venom *cough*), as we all turned to Fox with hopeful, gleaming eyes only to be shot down time and time again. But to quote the great Bob Dylan, “Oh the times they are a-changin’”.
 

The Disney Fox deal is growing ever so closer to becoming a reality, and we as fans now get to speculate on how Marvel will handle the integration of Xavier’s School for Gifted Youngsters and Marvel’s First Family into the MCU. Will the current actors of the franchises be kept as a show of good faith? Or will everyone be recast in order to break from the established and completely separate universes? I am more under the impression of the latter, but I have complete trust in whatever Feige and the rest of the folks over at Marvel decide to do.
 

With that being said, I have thought long and hard about who could possibly fill the shoes of some of Marvel’s most popular characters, but the reintroduction that I am the most excited for is by far The Fantastic Four. Below I have taken the liberty of casting the Fabulous Foursome (and a few subsequent characters) with whom I think would be the best possible candidates, but I want to know what you think. Like and comment below!

Billy Crudup is no stranger to the superhero genre after having played both Dr. Manhattan in Watchmen and Henry Allen, the father of The Flash in Justice League. He even participated in a parody of the genre on Jimmy Kimmel Live, playing Color Kid in Jimmy Kimmel’s The Terrific Ten. However not only is he a superhero veteran, he is also a fantastic actor in his own right with amazing tuns in Almost Famous and Spotlight. He is a bit on the older side (49), but in all honesty so is Mark Ruffalo, and he does an incredible job as Bruce Banner/The Hulk (pun intended). It also doesn’t help that he is the spitting image of the character’s original incarnation.

Elizabeth Banks is a completely underrated actress. Sure, she is known for more comedic roles like the Pitch Perfect series and Wet Hot American Summer, but she has become a bit of an enigma when it comes to more serious roles. Her turns as Effie Trinket in The Hunger Games series were nothing short of spectacular, and (I may get shot for this) I thoroughly enjoyed her role as Rita Repulsa in the Power Rangers reboot. These for me solidified my belief in her as an actress, and I think it is about time for her to step into a leading role of a major franchise of her own,

I know what we’re all thinking - Chris Evans was perfectly cast as the Human Torch in the original Fantastic Four movies, so if it’s broke don’t fix it, right? Well, unfortunately yet also fortunately for us, Mr. Evans is a bit preoccupied with wearing spangley outfits and kicking ass as Captain America, and doing a damn good job of it. So, clearly I am forced to make another choice. But I feel this is just as promising as Franco is great at playing the cocky, arrogant-younger-brother-type as evidenced by his role in Neighbors and the Now You See Me films. He has also had some great, more dramatic roles, but for the life of me I can’t think of one save for Warm Bodies and I didn’t really want to mention that one. Oh well, I suppose. Moving on.

This may seem like a strange choice, but hear me out. It took me an incredibly long time to cast someone in this role. I thought of hundreds of celebrities that could possibly play this role but nothing ever felt right to me. It wasn’t until I was watching the latest episode of Brooklyn Nine-Nine and I heard Braugher’s voice that it clicked for me. Braugher has a great and distinct and unique voice that I feel captures the spirit of Ben Grimm. He has had multiple serious roles over the years (including a turn as General Hager in Fantastic Four: Rise of the Silver Surfer) however his comedic turn as Captain Raymond Holt on Brooklyn Nine-Nine has by far been my favorite. This to me says that he has incredible range is seems to me a fairly likeable guy. Now, he may feel that he is too old to start up a new film franchise (He is 55) but if Marvel were to go that direction with these characters, then I think Braugher would be a good choice.

Probably the most ambitious casting choice (and the most likely to get butts in the seats) would be to cast Craig as the arch-nemesis of the Fantastic Four and rival of Reed Richards, Doctor Doom. While he is obviously most famous of playing James Bond, he has a long career playing certified badasses, and would be perfect for the role (so long as he can pull of an Eastern European accent. What am I saying, of course he can, he’s Daniel Craig). The only downside would be that he would most likely be unwilling to join another muli-film franchise as one would want to do with characters such as these, especially so soon after his tenure as Bond.

Honorable Mention:

First off, I feel that it would be a big mistake to bring in the Silver Surfer right off the bat. He is a character that definitely needs to be introduced at some point, possibly during an end credit sequence, but using him immediately I feel takes away the impact this character can have and the importance of his existence as the herald of Galactus. We all remember his film debut in Fantastic Four: Rise of the Silver Surfer, but we would also rather forget it. The Surfer needs a proper, faithful iteration, and I feel like Andrew Lincoln is the one to bring this character back from the bring of pop culture Hell. Lincoln’s most famous role is that of Rick Grimes on AMC’s The Walking Dead, and it has been divisive to say the least. But I also feel that given the opportunity, he could be a great choice for the Surfer. He has proven himself as a dramatic actor, and I feel that is what is needed for such a stoic character. Plus, capitalizing on his Walking Dead fame couldn’t hurt.