Three upcoming Marvel movies are slated on the 2025 release schedule, with the last of the bunch being The Fantastic Four: First Steps. The introduction of this superhero quartet to the Marvel Cinematic Universe (not counting John Krasinski’s Mister Fantastic cameo in Doctor Strange in the Multiverse of Madness) will take place on a different Earth in the Marvel multiverse, and while we know who many of the actors in the Fantastic Four cast are playing, there are a handful whose roles are being kept secret, including Natasha Lyonne. However, following the Poker Face actress sharing a new detail about her mysterious character, I’m pretty sure I know who she’s playing.
Towards the end of her interview with Vanity Fair, Lyonne addressed her involvement in both The Fantastic Four: First Steps and Smurfs, the latter of which also comes out later this year. Here’s what she had to say about her involvement in the MCU’s first Phase Six movie:
It is all very interstellar-type stuff, coming at it from different directions. I’m also in the Smurfs movie, and actually some stuff does happen that’s… I don’t want to get into it, because I’ll get in trouble. But assuming that I’m dead by 8:45 p.m. tonight and they have to cut the movies together in a mash-up, it will all marry well, I think.
The interstellar part shouldn’t come as a shock considering that The Fantastic Four: First Steps will see Galactus, played by Ralph Ineson, coming to the title team’s Earth to devour it with his herald The Silver Surfer, played by Julia Garner, in tow. However, the fact that Natasha Lyonne started to compare the next Fantastic Four movie to Smurfs, a fully-animated movie, could seemingly indicate that her role in the former could be a voiceover role. If that’s the case, then that basically narrows down her character to H.E.R.B.I.E., the team’s robot pal.
We know that H.E.R.B.I.E. will appear in First Steps thanks to the concept art released a little over a year ago, and while the character was originally voiced by Frank Welker in The New Fantastic Four, there’s nothing that says a man has to take on the role again. Throw in Lyonne’s comedic sensibilities, and I can easily envision her voice coming out of the robot to drop wisecracks. Obviously this is in no way officially confirmed, but I’m more convinced than ever that Lyonne is voicing H.E.R.B.I.E.
Other actors whose roles in The Fantastic Four: First Steps remain unknown include Paul Walter Hauser, John Malkovich and Sarah Niles, though the common guess among fans regarding Hauser is he’ll be playing Mole Man. There are also rumblings that Robert Downey Jr. will make a cameo appearance as Doctor Doom ahead of his full debut in Avengers: Doomsday. As for our intrepid team of protagonists, we’ll see Pedro Pascal as Reed Richards/Mister Fantastic, Vanessa Kirby as Sue Storm/Invisible Woman, Ebon Moss-Bachrach as Ben Grimm/The Thing and Joseph Quinn as Johnny Storm/The Human Torch.
The Fantastic Four: First Steps hits theaters on July 25, 2025. Meanwhile, listen to Natasha Lyonne’s first MCU outing as Byrdie, the daughter of alternate versions of Darcy Lewis and Howard the Duck, by streaming What If… ? Season 3 with your Disney+ subscription.
