It’s been a minute since the Fantastic Four were seen on the big screen, with the 2015 movie centered on Marvel’s First Family failing to impress critically or commercially. The good news is that streak will be ending soon, as one of the many upcoming Marvel movies is a reboot for the superheroes set within the MCU. Among the things we know about Fantastic Four is that WandaVision’s Matt Shakman is directing and Josh Friedman is rewriting the script, and now casting rumors are starting to heat up. However, when it comes to one of the candidates for The Human Torch, he may already be out due to scheduling issues.
Among the many actors who have been rumored to be in consideration is Paul Mescal, who’s known from movies like Aftersun and God’s Creatures, as well as the miniseries Normal People and The Deceived. Mescal has already been cast as Lucius Verus for Gladiator 2, which is expected to begin filming this summer Additionally, Deadline reports that the actor is in talks to star in a film adaptation of The New York Times bestselling novel Hamnet that is being directed by Chloé Zhao. The story follows William Shakepeare’s wife, Agnes, coming to terms with the death of their only son, and ultimately leads to Shakespeare writing Hamlet.
So between his potential involvement in Hamnet (which is also looking to bring in Women Talking’s Jessie Buckley) and not being far off from beginning work on Gladiator 2, Paul Mescal has enough to keep him busy in the near future. Hollywood insider Daniel Richtman claimed on his Patreon that Mescal had been offered the role of Johnny Storm, a.k.a. The Human Torch, but since Fantastic Four is currently slated for an early 2025 release, that means production on it would need to begin soon. Unless things don’t work out with Hamnet, the actor’s schedule is going to be too packed for him to participate in the Marvel movie with its current timetable.
As already mentioned, Paul Mescal is just one of a handful of names that have been thrown around recently, with other notable figures including Adam Driver supposedly being in discussions to play Mister Fantastic, and Antonio Banderas supposedly being eyed for the role of Galactus. Officially though, Marvel Studios is keeping its proverbial lips locked tight, although with San Diego Comic-Con just a few months away, that would be a great time to unveil who will bring these new versions of Reed Richards, Sue Storm, Ben Grimm and Johnny Storm to life. The only plot-related details that have been revealed so far is that the Fantastic Four’s origin story will not be chronicled.
Fantastic Four will hit theaters on February 14, 2025, and you can count on CInemaBlend letting you know whenever it’s announced which actors will comprise the core quartet. Until the, if you’d like to stream the 2005 or 2007 versions of Fantastic Four, any of the other of the Marvel movies in order, you’ll need a Disney+ subscription handy.
