Superman Returns star Brandon Routh joins the MCU as Mr. Fantastic in new Marvel’s Fantastic Four fan art. After years of anticipation, comic book legends The Fantastic Four are finally coming to the MCU. And fans fully expect that when that happens, John Krasinski will get the coveted role of Reed Richards aka Mr. Fantastic.
Krasinski of course has long been fancast as the MCU's version of Reed Richards. And fan hopes did indeed come to life, if only briefly, when Krasinski appeared as Illuminati member Richards in this year’s Dr. Strange in the Multiverse of Madness. But as of now, nothing is confirmed when it comes to who will star in Marvel's Fantastic Four.
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Unless and until Krasinski is officially handed the job of playing Reed Richards in Marvel's Fantastic Four, fans can still freely speculate about who else might receive the honor. In an interesting bit of alternative fancasting, artist skull101ify has tapped Superman Returns star Routh instead of the heavily-favored Krasinski to play Richards when The Fantastic Four joins the MCU. See the image in the space below:
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Marvel May Need To Recast MCU Mr. Fantastic
It’s worth noting of course that Krasinski’s Richards did die gruesomely at the hands of Scarlet Witch in Dr. Strange and the Multiverse of Madness, but of course with the multiverse now in full effect, such a death means less-than-nothing. But while resurrecting Reed Richards can be done with a few taps of a screenwriter’s keyboard, bringing back Krasinski still requires schedules to be matched up and deals to be negotiated. This makes it altogether possible that when Richards returns in Marvel's Fantastic Four, he will be a different variant played by someone other than Krasinski.
Fan art subject Routh would indeed be an interesting choice to replace Krasinski in the MCU, mostly because Routh is so associated with DC after playing both Superman and the Arrowverse’s The Atom. But of course Routh is not the only candidate fans have in mind when it comes to casting Mr. Fantastic. Penn Badgley for example has been brought up before, and himself recently received the Fantastic Four fan art treatment. Henry Cavill too has been brought up as a potential Reed Richards, though he is even more strongly associated with DC than Routh. Other fan favorites for the role include Joseph Gordon-Levitt, Glenn Howerton, Andrew Lincoln, John Cho and the real long-shot, Keanu Reeves.
Krasinski fans are obviously still hoping that his appearance as Reed Richards in Dr. Strange 2 proves to be much more than a rather anti-climactic one-off. However, it’s clear that with the idea of multiverse variants having been fully established, fans should not become too attached to the idea of one actor playing a certain character over the long-term. The good news is, if Marvel does elect to recast Mr. Fantastic, there is surely no shortage of strong actors who would be willing and able to take on the role in Marvel’s Fantastic Four.