After Fox's three Fantastic Four movies, we're almost a little surprised there's so much excitement for the upcoming reboot. Then again, the franchise is back in the hands of Marvel Studios and if anyone can do this team justice, it's them.
The furore surrounding who will play each member of the group is as wild as when Spider-Man was being cast, but one rumoured top contender for Reed Richards, Penn Badgley has taken himself out of the running...we think? It's hard to say for sure, but the actor finally addressed the rumours in an interview with Josh Horowitz.
Asked if he's stepping into a superhero costume in the near future, Badgley responded: "Well...no, I can’t reveal that. Neither confirm nor deny. No, I don’t know what to say about that. No. You know, it’s possible that I have [met Kevin Feige], but not in this context. I might have met him years ago and I wouldn’t, you know, I’m not sure."
Pushed on whether there's any smoke to the fire he's playing Reed Richards in Fantastic Four, the actor appeared to deny that it will happen. However, he did so in a very tongue-in-cheek manner!
"You know, where there’s smoke, there’s not always fire. It actually takes a lot to get from smoke to fire. I’ll say that. It takes a lot...That’s not how this fire gets lit. this fire gets lit by Kevin - I don’t even know how to pronounce his name...I’m clearly not in a Marvel movie."
Later adding that he was more of a Spider-Man and Spawn fan as a kid, this is either Badgley having fun or protesting way too much (as Paul Rudd did once upon a time after being asked if he was Ant-Man). With so many Mister Fantastic rumours doing the rounds right now, it would be pretty hilarious if the You star has already been cast as the genius superhero.
Time will tell, but Marvel Studios really needs to hurry up and announce each member of Marvel's First Family. Unfortunately, we have a feeling that won't happen until Comic-Con.
Fantastic Four is set to be released on February 14, 2025.