On today’s episode of The Hot Mic podcast, insider Jeff Sneider provided an update on the cast of the upcoming Fantastic Four movie — including Adam Driver.
Will Adam Driver still be in the Fantastic Four movie?
When asked for a casting update by cohost John Rocha, Sneider noted that the casting process for the Marvel Cinematic Universe‘s Fantastic Four movie has seemingly been in constant flux. The insider stated that Daveed Diggs as Ben Grimm/The Thing is the only role that “is sticking” and that Adam Driver “may have priced himself out” of the role of Reed Richards/Mr. Fantastic.
“It sounds like every name that gets rumored gets shot down a few weeks later,” Sneider said. “So here’s what I understand it to be. First of all, the only role that it sounds like is sticking is Daveed Diggs, I guess — if that rumor is in fact true, I don’t know … like I said, it comes down to money. And so I think Adam Driver may have priced himself out. That may have been the situation. He may have just started asking for too much money. I don’t know why, because 65 flopped, and quite frankly, that Francis Ford Coppola movie — which is very expensive — is also going to flop. I don’t see any world in which that possibly makes its money back.
“I don’t know why he would turn his back on this if it was in fact his, or drive a hard bargain. Maybe he just heard that, because that Sue Storm role is sort of seen as ‘the role,’ that they’re willing to pay for that but not willing to pay his quote?”
When asked if it was possible for Marvel Studios to go back to the popular fan-casting of John Krasinski and Emily Blunt for Mr. Fantastic and Sue Storm/The Invisible Woman, Sneider noted that “it’s a distinct possibility.”
Fantastic Four will be directed by Matt Shakman (WandaVision) from a screenplay by Josh Friedman, who was brought in to re-write the script originally written by Jeff Kaplan and Ian Springer. No official casting announcements have been made, but production is still expected to start in early 2024. As a project in Phase Six of the MCU, Fantastic Four is scheduled to be released on May 2, 2025.
The Fantastic Four comic debuted in 1961. Created by Stan Lee and Jack Kirby, it was the first superhero team title produced by Marvel Comics and popularized famous characters like Reed Richards, Sue Storm, and Doctor Doom.
