After endless rumours, Marvel Studios finally announced the cast of The Fantastic Four: First Steps early last year. Pedro Pascal, Vanessa Kirby, Joseph Quinn, and Ebon Moss-Bachrach had all been linked to the reboot at one time or another, so there were no major surprises for fans who had been closely following the casting process.
Since then, Oppenheimer star David Krumholtz has confirmed he tried and failed to play the MCU's Thing. Midnight Mass star Rahul Kohli, meanwhile, revealed that he lost the role of Mister Fantastic to The Last of Us star Pedro Pascal.
He was a fan favourite choice for Reed Richards, and as you'll see below, his likeness was seemingly used for at least one piece of concept art for The Fantastic Four: First Steps. Some fans believe it's just not a very good interpretation of Pascal, but that looks more like Kohli to us.
"Yeah, I don't know if I'm allowed to talk about it but I didn't get it, is the important thing," Kohli previously said of missing out on playing the MCU's Reed Richards. "But on good days, I see the Constantine [fan casting]. It will flare up once and again. And, I love all of them. On good days, you're like, 'Man, I'm wanted!' People really want to see. You're the guy that people will shout out for anything."
"On bad days, it's a reminder that, 'You're not the guy. You're not there. These are the roles you'll never get.' So, it's sweet and it's perspective. It's how you feel about yourself."
Kohli's breakout role was in The CW's DC Comics adaptation, iZombie. He's since starred in Supergirl and Harley Quinn, meaning he's no stranger to comic book fare. However, many of you will know the actor best for his collaborations with Mike Flanagan in Netflix TV shows like The Haunting of Bly Manor and The Fall of the House of Usher.
It's not uncommon for Marvel Studios to use the likenesses of actors being considered for a role like this one in concept art. However, between this piece and Kohli's comments, we can safely assume that he was once a frontrunner to play Reed in this movie.
You can see this new concept art from Marvel Studios' The Fantastic Four: First Steps - The Art Of The Movie below (just click on the images to view them in hi-res).
In our review of The Fantastic Four: First Steps, we concluded, "The Fantastic Four is an exceptional introduction to the MCU’s First Family, and thanks to a Jack Kirby-infused feel that’s unlike anything we’ve seen before, it proves to be a quintessential superhero movie with Marvel Studios at its brilliant best.
Set against the vibrant backdrop of a 1960s-inspired, retro-futuristic world, Marvel Studios' The Fantastic Four: First Steps introduces Marvel’s First Family—Reed Richards/Mister Fantastic (Pedro Pascal), Sue Storm/Invisible Woman (Vanessa Kirby), Johnny Storm/Human Torch (Joseph Quinn) and Ben Grimm/The Thing (Ebon Moss-Bachrach) as they face their most daunting challenge yet.
Forced to balance their roles as heroes with the strength of their family bond, they must defend Earth from a ravenous space god called Galactus (Ralph Ineson) and his enigmatic Herald, Silver Surfer (Julia Garner). And if Galactus’ plan to devour the entire planet and everyone on it weren’t bad enough, it suddenly gets very personal.
Also appearing are Natasha Lyonne as Rachel Rozman, Paul Walter Hauser as Harvey Elder/Mole Man, Sarah Niles as Lynne Nichols, and Mark Gatiss as Ted Gilbert. John Malkovich was set to play Red Ghost, but was cut due to time constraints.
The Fantastic Four: First Steps is directed by Matt Shakman from a screenplay by Josh Friedman and Eric Pearson and Jeff Kaplan & Ian Springer.
The movie is now available on Digital platforms, while its 4K Ultra HD, Blu-ray, and DVD release is set to follow on October 14.