John Krasinski’s Fantastic Four Fate Revealed
John Krasinski seems to suggest his appearance as Mr. Fantastic may have been a one time occurrence and not a long term contracted casting, according to an exclusive interview with The Wrap. This news, which presumably has us all frowning into an imaginary camera in the middle distance, came during a recent press junket Krasinski delivered during a media tour promoting season 3 of Jack Ryan, the Office alumnus’ latest CIA action thriller, available to stream through Amazon Prime.
Since the first casting rumors of John Krasinski taking on the flagship Fantastic Four patriarch, formerly played by the likes of Ioan Gruffudd and Miles Teller, fans of Krasinski’s work in projects such as The Office and A Quiet Place have been excitedly awaiting the Marvel team’s first installation into the MCU. The first signs of the Fantastic Four within the existing MCU came in the form of a Krasinski cameo during a trip into the multiverse in the recent Doctor Strange sequel, in which Benedict Cumberbatch‘s titular hero encounters Krasinski alongside a rogues gallery of alternate universe Marvel heroes on the council of the Illuminati. In the film, Reed Richards is quickly introduced and dispatched by a maddened Scarlet Witch, alongside a handful of other cameos of recently acquired Marvel characters formerly belonging to 20th Century Fox, such as Patrick Stuart’s Professor X.
Fans had high hopes that this introduction would serve as more than just a cameo, taking John Krasinski’s newfound place as Mr. Fantastic into a series of canon in-universe adventures alongside a previously undisclosed cast of Fantastic Four actors. Unfortunately, with the news of a new Fantastic Four film moving forward, Krasinski suggests he’s had no new updates about reprising his role, nor has he signed a multi picture contract as most Marvel stars are so inclined. Krasinski refers to his time as Reed Richards not as a long term investment in the cinematic universe, but instead as “Playing in the Marvel sandbox for a day.”
John Krasinski has made big career moves in recent years outside of his brief contribution to the MCU’s Fantastic Four, potentially taking too much time from his schedule to allow him time for a multi picture contract with the comic book franchise. Krasinski made his big screen directorial debut in 2018 with A Quiet Place, and continued working behind the scenes on the ensuing installments in the series, as well as writing and directing an upcoming feature film titled Imaginary Friends, which stars Ryan Reynolds alongside Krasinski’s former Office boss Steve Carell, and is set to hit theaters some time in 2024.
The MCU’s introductory installment into the Fantastic Four is set to debut on Valentine’s Day, 2024, though no official casting news has been announced at this time. With Krasinski’s new comments making his return seem like a major stretch, fans will have a lot of speculation regarding the final casting options for Reed Richards in the new film. For now, we’ll just have to wait and see what Kevin Feige and company have coming our way.
