After emerging as the breakout star of Stranger Things season 4 playing tragic hero Eddie Munson, Joseph Quinn has lined up the biggest role of his career as Johnny Storm, aka the Human Torch, in Marvel Studios' The Fantastic Four.
Quinn was asked about joining the MCU during his panel at the Facts Comic-Con in Belgium, and shared his excitement for the project and director Matt Shakman's vision for Marvel's First Family.
“I’m really excited! I still can’t believe it, it’s crazy. We have a great group. When I spoke to Matt, the director, he had a brilliant vision for this, and the group we have, it was an easy decision. I definitely wanted to be a part of it.”
When asked if he could reveal how he was preparing for the part, Quinn joked that he'll be "setting himself on fire every day."
We recently got a first look at some artwork depicting Storm in "flame on" mode as the Human Torch, which you can also check out below.
Quinn joins Pedro Pascal (Game of Thrones, The Last of Us) as Reed Richards, aka Mr. Fantastic, Vanessa Kirby (Mission: Impossible - Dead Reckoning) as Sue Storm, aka the Invisible Woman, and Ebon Moss-Bachrach (The Punisher, The Bear) as Ben Grimm, aka the Thing.
Earlier this week, the news broke that Julia Garner (Ozark) has been cast as a female take on the Silver Surfer (Shalla-Bal).
Plot details are still a mystery, but a recent rumor claimed that The Fantastic Four will actually be set in an alternate universe. If accurate, this would obviously suggest that the characters will be Variants from some other part of the Multiverse that will eventually find their way to the main MCU timeline (possibly due to the interdimensional rift Dar-Benn caused at the end of The Marvels).
Galactus has been confirmed as the main villain, but no actor is currently in talks for the part. Last we heard, Javier Bardem was said to be the "top choice" to play the Eater of Worlds, but it was noted that scheduling conflicts may prevent him from signing on. Antonio Banderas was also a rumoured
Kevin Feige has also confirmed that this will not be another origin story for the super-team.
“A lot of people know this origin story. A lot of people know the basics. How do we take that and bring something that they’ve never seen before?” he said in a 2022 interview, comparing this new take on the heroes to Marvel Studios' pact with Sony to bring Spider-Man into the MCU. “We’ve set a very high bar for ourselves with bringing that to the screen.”
Production is expected to get underway this summer, and the film is set to bow on July 25, 2025.