Pedro Pascal picked up the SAG award for Best Actor in a Drama series for his performance in HBO's The Last of Us, and was asked about being officially announced as part of The Fantastic Four cast during a backstage interview with ET.
Pascal has been rumored to be in contention to play Reed Richards for quite a while, and the trades actually reported that he was in final talks for the role late last year. Even so, the Game of Thrones alum had previously remained tight-lipped about potentially joining the MCU in interviews, and is only now getting the chance to speak about it and express his excitement.
"I can tell you how excited I am, which is beyond! There isn’t anything more exciting than being in a cast like that, Vanessa Kirby, Ebon Moss-Bachrach, Joe Quinn and our director Matt Shakman. To be invited to a family like that is unbelievable, and we all just want to do our best and share it with the world.”
Pascal clearly didn't expect his name to be read out after Succession's Kieran Culkin won in the same category at the Golden Globes, and indulged in a few tipples during the show.
“This is wrong for so many reasons,” Pascal told the audience during his acceptance speech. “I’m a little drunk. I thought I could get drunk. I’m making a fool of myself, but thank you so much for this! I’ve been in the union since 1999 so this is an incredible [frick]ing honor. To the nominees, all of you, I can’t remember any of your names right now.”
Pascal will be joined by Vanessa Kirby (Mission: Impossible - Dead Reckoning) as Sue Storm, aka the Invisible Woman, Joseph Quinn (Stranger Things) as Johnny Storm, aka the Human Torch, and Ebon Moss-Bachrach (The Punisher, The Bear) as Ben Grimm, aka the Thing.
There are rumors that both Cillian Murphy (Oppenheimer) and Mads Mikkelsen (Rogue One) are top picks to play Doctor Doom, but other actors are sure to be in contention.
Several well-placed sources have claimed that Doom will be one of the main villains of Avengers: Secret Wars.
Javier Bardem is still rumored to be the top choice for Galactus, but his schedule may prevent him from signing on. The Eater of Worlds' herald is believed to be Silver Surfer, but a female take on the character. A recent rumor claimed that Anya Taylor-Joy is being eyed for that role.
Matt Shakman will direct FF. Plot details are still a mystery, but we do know that it will at least partially be set in the '60s. Kevin Feige has 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.”