RUMOR: Adam Driver in Final Talks to Play Reed Richards in Marvel Studios’ ‘Fantastic Four’

Marvel Studios’ Fantastic Four was first announced 4 years ago at Marvel Studios’ 2019 Sand Diego Comic-Con Panel, and ever since fans have been speculating, and fan casting actors from all over Hollywood for the roles of Marvel’s iconic first family. Finally, after 4 years of no casting news it seems we may have our first member of the Fantastic Four cast.

According to a new report from trusted industry insider Daniel Richtman the ‘Star Wars’ sequels and ’65’ star Adam Driver has been cast in the lead role of Reed Richards aka Mr. Fantastic in Marvel Studios’ upcoming take on the iconic Fantastic Four. The rumor was originally posted on Richtman’s Patreon and then made its way to twitter stating that Driver is in “Final talks” to play the role.

The character has previously been portrayed by 3 different actors over his 20 year long history in film including Ioan Gruffudd in 2005’s ‘Fantastic Four’ and its 2009 sequel, Miles Teller in 2015’s disastorous ‘Fantastic Four’, and finally in 2022 by John Krasinski in ‘Doctor Strange in the Multiverse of Madness’. So Adam driver will be the 4th actor to portray the role and will finally give fans the long-awaited MCU variant of the character. Previously fans had sepculated if John Krasinski would also portray the MCU variant of the character since his portrayal was also in a Marvel Studios project, however that iteration of the character was from a different universe Earth-838, while the MCU is Earth-616 according to Kevin Fiege, or if you want to believe Iman Velani and Miguel O’hara Eath-199999. Driver is a two time Oscar nominee, four time Emmy nominee, and has won multiple critics choice awards so he is an incredible choice for the character. He is also no stranger to big Disney sci-fi productions having played the lead role of Kylo Ren in all three of Disney’s recent Star Wars films. Driver isn’t an obvious look alike choice for Reed Richards as other fan casts were like those of John Krasinski or YOU star Penn Badgley, however, due to his acting callibre, there is no doubt that he could carry the role.

Reed Richards is the leader of the Fantastic Four so it makes sense that his deal must have been finalized first at marvel. Dr. Reed Richards is a scientist and inventor who is considered the smartest man on the planet so it will be interesting to see where he is placed in the MCU. Richards was exposed to high levels of cosmic radiation along with the other members of the Fantastic Four including his best friend Ben Grimm, his girlfriend and Invisible Woman Sue Storm and her younger brother Johnny Storm aka The Human Torch, during a trip to space. The radiation mutated him and his friends, allowing him to stretch and mold his body at will. The 4 then assembled to become the Fantastic Four.

Marvel Studios’ Fantastic Four is currently scheduled to hit theaters February 14, 2025, after a myriad of Covid-19 and slate overhaul related delays. WandaVision Director Matt Shakman is directing, with Avatar 4 writer Josh Friedman penning the script. Jeff Kaplan and Ian Springer were the previous writers on the project, Friedman is a veteran of the action sci-fi genre while Kaplan and Springer were comedy writer so Friedman’s hiring signals that the film will follow a more sci-fi action focused plot. Friedman previously wrote the script for 2005’s War of the Worlds, and worked on the script for last year’s record-breaking Avatar: The Way of Water. Friedman’s script for Avatar 4 was reported to have massively impressed the executives over at Disney, so that. may have played a part in his hiring. Plot details on the film are still unknown, however, due to the character’s not being present throughout most of the MCU, most theories and rumors have speculated that the film may be set in the 1960s and have the Fantastic Four explore the Quantum Realm to then get stuck there and gain powers to then be thrust into the future into the MCU’s present in 2026. This is a likely and effective solution, and also adds signature MCU connecttive tissue to the film.

The cast for the other 3 members of the Fantastic Four still remain a mystery with the current rumor mill and fan casts casting actors from Jodie Comer to Emily Blunt as Sue Storm, Daveed Diggs to Seth Rogen as Ben Grimm, and Rudie Pankow to Jamie Dorman as Johnny Storm. Marvel Studios have still not officially announced the casting, neither has it been reported by a trusted Trade yet so the news must still be taken as a rumor, however, due to industry insider Daniel Richtman’s near perfect track record this casting rumor has a high likeliness of being true.

Marvel Studios’ Fantastic Four finally hits theaters February 14, 2025! You can watch the character in 2005’s Fantastic Four and last year’s Doctor Strange in the multiverse of madness on Disney Plus.