Fantastic Four casting news is somewhere on the horizon, and we now have news about what Marvel Studios was planning in at least one draft of the screenplay. This probably will, or likely already has, changed but it may still offer some insights into what's in store for the MCU's take on Marvel's First Family.
While Doctor Doom won't be Avengers: Secret Wars' big bad, there were indeed plans for the iconic villain to show up at the end of Fantastic Four. We don't have any context beyond that, though common sense says the scene was meant to tee him up for a bigger role in a future sequel.
Even more interesting is the fact both Franklin and Valeria Richards were once set to appear. The children of Reed and Susan Richards, this rumour suggests the group has long been established both as a superhero team and a family that includes a supremely powerful son and a dangerously intelligent daughter.
Whether they'll be part of future versions of Fantastic Four (and the one we see in theaters) remains to be seen. Throwing a couple of kids into the mix will help differentiate these heroes from their big screen predecessors and a team like The Avengers, for example.
Remember, we've previously heard that the MCU's Fantastic Four will hail from the 1960s (or another reality) before they end up stranded on Earth-616.
As of now, it appears Vanessa Kirby and Joseph Quinn are a lock for Invisible Woman and the Human Torch respectively. When it comes to the leader of the team, Adam Driver (Star Wars), Jake Gyllenhaal (Spider-Man: Far From Home), and Matt Smith (Morbius) are both said to be in the mix for Mister Fantastic.
Antonio Banderas supposedly remains in the mix to star as Galactus, while Ebon Moss-Bachrach may end up playing the aforementioned Herald or, considering the fact we're now hearing that unnamed character will be female, probably The Thing.
No official announcements will be made until the SAG-AFTRA strike ends but work has resumed on the script.
"I mean, we’ve been on our process consistently," director Matt Shakman recently revealed. "I’ve been on the project for a little over a year and working away hard at it the way we’d work on any film at Marvel...starting with, you know, what is the story we want to tell? What is the theme of the story? Why are we telling this story? And just developing then the best possible version of that story, and how do we want to bring these characters to life?"
In the same interview, the filmmaker confirmed he's worked with both Avatar: The Way of Water co-writer Josh Friedman and WandaVision's Cam Squires on a draft of Fantastic Four's screenplay.
The movie is currently scheduled to be released in theaters on May 2, 2025.