We have all been waiting for this news, and finally, Disney has officially completed its purchase of the majority of 21st Century Fox’s film and television assets. One year after the merger was announced, Disney’s $71.3 billion dollar acquisition is in the books, which means the X-Men and Fantastic Four are finally coming home!
With the buyout, the rights to all Fox-owned Marvel properties will revert back to Marvel (of course, owned by Disney). This is fantastic news (yes, I meant to do that) as Marvel keeps inching closer-and-closer to regaining the rights back to all of their characters, which had been scattered among various studios.
Fans have been clamoring for Kevin Feige and company to get their hands on the X-Men and the Fantastic Four franchises for quite some time due to the great disappointment how those properties have been handled. It’s time for these characters to be added into the MCU and with this acquisition it looks like it’s finally going to happen!
Without further ado, let’s cast Marvel’s first family for the MCU!
Reed Richards/Mr. Fantastic
John Krasinski
Krasinski has become the defacto fan-favorite choice to play Reed Richards/Mr. Fantastic and it seems to be only a matter of time before Krasinski is actually cast in the MCU. He has been on Marvel’s radar for a while now, especially after he was announced to be a finalist for the Captain America role before eventually losing out to Chris Evans for the role. Ever since then, fans have been dreaming of a role for Krasinski in the Marvel Cinematic universe, with most landing on Reed Richards as the perfect role for him.
Krasinski has proven his acting chops and physical prowess to pull off the role of a superhero. His roles in films like 13 Hours: The Secret Soldiers of Benghazi and more recently, A Quiet Place, really showcased Krasinki’s range as an actor as well as his ability to really thrive in his action sequences. He’s come a long way from his days as Jim on the hit classic The Office and would without a doubt be able to give us a definitive take on the character. We all know he’s near the top of your wish list Marvel, so get on the phone and make this happen!
Oscar Isaac
Isaac is an actor whose star has been rising at an incredibly fast pace. His services are in extremely high demand and there’s a good reason for that: the guy is a phenomenal actor! Somehow, either nobody managed to land him in a lead role in superhero franchise or they just haven’t been smart enough to try, but there isn’t a role this guy couldn’t nail.
As mentioned above, Isaac has really been on a tear the last few years landing roles in a lot of high profile projects such as his co-starring role as Poe Dameron in Disney & Lucasfilms’ new Star Wars sequels. Despite not leading a superhero franchise of his own yet, Isaac is no stranger to comic book films as he co-starred in Fox’s X-Men: Age of Apocalypse as the films titular villain.
While that film was received with mixed reactions, and the look of Isaac’s villain was criticized, his performance was definitely one of the few bright spots in that film. Isaac clearly has the acting chops, experience, and star power to lead a superhero franchise, this could finally be the role to give Isaac his own superhero franchise to take charge of.
Honorable Mention: Joseph Gordon-Levitt
Sue Storm/The Invisible Woman
Emily Blunt
Like her husband (John Krasinski), Blunt has also become the defacto fan favorite to portray Sue Storm/The Invisible Woman. Now a big reason for that is because, as everyone knows, Reed and Sue are romantically involved and with Blunt and Krasinski being a real married couple, most believe that chemistry would translate effortlessly on screen. However, most fans would love to see Blunt in this role with or without Krasinski in the role of Sue Storm!
She was previously considered for another role in the MCU (again, like her husband). Blunt was a finalist for the role of Natasha Romanoff/Black Widow, but eventually lost the role to Johannson and a lot people threw her name around back when Marvel was casting for the role of Carol Danvers. Clearly fans want Blunt in the MCU, she’s a phenomenal and incredibly gifted actress. Her roles in films such as Looper, A Quiet Place and Edge of Tomorrow might also have something to do with fans’ eagerness to get her in a superhero role as soon as possible. Those roles proved that Blunt can effectively and convincingly play the badass heroine with relative ease. Sue Storm is also very intelligent, and with Blunt’s incredible range, there’s no doubt she would be able to bring a perfect balance to the role.
Emma Watson
Emma Watson taking on a superhero role is something that is long overdue. Playing a strong, intelligent female among males who think they are stronger and smarter is something of which Watson is very familiar from the years she spent saving Harry, Ron’s and the Wizarding World’s rear-ends in the Harry Potter franchise. Watson’s performance as Hermione Granger was always a consistent bright spot in those films. She exudes a level of confidence on screen that allows her to outshine all of her co-stars in every scene she’s in.
Watson’s ability to command the audiences attention and that level of confidence she portrays while on screen are both CRUCIAL traits to have when taking on the role of Sue Storm. In addition to her role as Hermione Granger, Watson has taken on a wide variety of roles, from starring in some indie films like The Perks of Being a Wallflower and The Bling Ring, to roles in high-profile, big budget films like Noah and Beauty and the Beast. Watson would absolutely own this role, and being that she already has presumably strong working relationship with Disney after BATB, it’s not unreasonable to assume the studio already has her in mind!
Honorable Mention: Lily James
Johnny Storm/The Human Torch
Zac Efron
When you talk about actors who were born for their roles, you think about Robert Downey Jr. as Tony Stark, Ryan Reynolds as Deadpool, and Hugh Jackman as Wolverine. The character of Johnny Storm being played by Zac Efron seems like a match made in heaven. Johnny is an arrogant, self-centered playboy who relishes the fame and the spotlight that comes with being a superhero. While he’s technically part of the team, make no mistake, Johnny is in this for himself, but when push comes to shove, he’s a great asset to the team in a fight.
Efron would without a doubt be able to give us a definitive version of Johnny. While Chris Evans did an admirable job in the original Fantastic Four film back in the early 2000s, he unfortunately (or fortunately) found greener pastures by giving us the definitive take on Steve Rogers/Captain America. Efron is no stranger to playing the cocky, arrogant type who needs to be humbled. If you need convincing, just go watch Neighbors, Dirty Grandpa and Baywatch, which may be all you need see to know Zac would absolutely crush this role. Handsome, charming, a chiseled physique…he has all the tools to nail this role, we just need Marvel to step up and make this happen!
Dacre Montgomery
Okay, I swear I’m not just choosing people that look similar to Zac Efron here! Dacre Montgomery was very much largely unknown up until a couple years ago. When he was cast as Jason in Saban’s The Power Rangers reboot, most people were asking who the hell this guy was. If you said you knew who he was before Power Rangers, chances are you’re lying. It’s definitely not a bad thing that he was largely unknown, everyone has to start somewhere! If you watched the new Power Rangers film then you will really understand why Montgomery is a top choice of ours to play the role of Johnny Storm. Yes he’s got leading man looks much in the mold of our number one choice Mr. Efron, but he’s also got a certain swagger about him while he’s on screen.
Montgomery played his role as Jason in the Power Rangers reboot flawlessly. Starting off as cocky, charming and very wreckless, we saw Jason get humbled throughout the film to transform into a true leader. All of those qualities (maybe not the leader part) are essential to an accurate depiction of Johnny Storm. After his role in Power Rangers, Montgomery was then cast in Netflix’s ratings giant, Stranger Things, as (you guessed it) a cocky, wreckless older brother type. I’m sure he doesn’t want to typecast into playing a certain kind of character forever, but if you’re good at something then why not capitalize off it?! Johnny Storm seems like a very logical next step for Montgomery.
Honorable Mention: Dave Franco
Ben Grimm/The Thing
David Harbour
By far the most difficult member of the team to cast purely because, aside from maybe the 30 minutes of film that he will still be human, Ben Grimm is largely a CGI character. The voice is going to be the most crucial part of this casting. I know with that being said, most people would immediately go for Vin Diesel for his voice alone, but not us! David Harbour is our top choice. Harbour has been on quite the run lately. From his standout (possibly breakout) role as the coolest sheriff ever on Netflix’s Stranger Things to a handful of supporting credits in high profile films such as Black Mass and The Equalizer, Harbour has shown that he has a nice range in terms of his acting ability.
His role as Sheriff Hopper on Stranger Things is by far his most prominent and well known role. It’s weird to say that an actor’s breakout role happened when he was already 40 years old but that’s exactly what happened. Harbour is already seeing the fruits of that role as he signed on to play Hellboy in the new reboot releasing this year! That role solidifies this casting choice even more as now Harbour has experience playing characters that require CGI and motion capture, which will be be largely required for this role. Harbour would be able to, as he’s shown in his previous roles, bring a perfect balance of sarcasm, humor and seriousness to the role of Ben Grimm, and with his physical stature (he’s a pretty big guy) he has the perfect combo to give us a “fantastic” take on The Thing.
Michael Cudlitz
Cudlitz is far from a household name, but his work on the Walking Dead as Sergeant Abraham Ford is just too good to ignore. Outside of his role on that show, Cudlitz has a large amount of television credits to his name. Perhaps most notably being his long running role as John Cooper on Southland for which he won a Critics Choice Award for best supporting actor in a drama series. For his role in that series, Cudlitz was praised for his ability to get the audience to empathize with his character, with a lot of critics going as far as to call him the heart of the show.
With his ability to get the audience to really feel for him and root for him, in combination with his ability to play an absolute badass like Abraham Ford, Cudlitz might just be the perfect actor to take on the role of Ben Grimm. Grimm loses everything when he gets transformed into a living, breathing rock monster, including the love of his life. Add on top of that how Johnny is always making fun of him, and you have to feel for the guy (or rock?). Cudlitz has terrific range as an actor and would be able to bring a perfect balance of emotion and physicality (like Harbour, he’s also a pretty big guy) to the role.
Add Jenefer Lawrence as Susan Storm ,please.