John Krasinski Reveals His Fate As Marvel’s Mr. Fantastic
In a multiverse world like the Marvel Cinematic Universe, anything can happen—including bringing characters back from the dead. In the Doctor Strange sequel, Doctor Strange in the Multiverse of Madness, John Krasinski surprised fans by showing up as Marvel character and Illuminati member, Mr. Fantastic, and then immediately crushed their hearts when he was brutally murdered only a few minutes later. Soon after Multiverse of Madness was released, Marvel announced that a Fantastic Four movie was planned for phase 6, causing fans of the MCU to wonder if Krasinski could reprise his brief but popular role. In an interview with The Wrap, Krasinksi revealed everything he knows to be his character’s fate.
While there have been several film adaptations of the Fantastic Four, John Krasinski remains the Marvel Cinematic Universe’s one and only Reed Richards, at least for now. While many fans and even Krasinski’s wife, Mary Poppins Returns actress Emily Blunt, hope that Krasinksi might return to the role for the upcoming Fantastic Four reboot produced by Disney, Krasinski says that he doesn’t know anything about the project.
During the interview, John Krasinski said there have been no discussions about him returning to a Marvel film. The Quiet Place actor said that the only Marvel-related discussions he has ever had with the studio are from when they called him while he was filming Jack Ryan and asked if he would be interested in playing Reed Richards for one day. As a big fan of Marvel and its characters, Krasinski said he couldn’t say no, and he flew to L.A. directly from Budapest after wrapping Jack Ryan.
While John Krasinski admitted that the brutal murder of his character is not how he would have chosen to end his time with Marvel, he was happy to be able to play a part in the universe, if only for a few minutes of screen time. However, despite being peeled apart like string cheese on screen, Mr. Fantastic’s death does not have to mean the end for Krasinksi as that character. As we’ve already seen with Gamora from the Guardians of the Galaxy crew, it is entirely possible for an alternate-universe version of a character to hop into the main timeline of the MCU.
While Multiverse of Madness established that some characters might look different in other universes, such as Lasana Lynch’s Maria Rambeau as Captain Marvel versus Brie Larson’s Carol Danvers claiming that title, we also saw that some characters might look exactly the same in each timeline, like how Benedict Cumberbatch played every version of Doctor Strange in each universe shown in the film. This means that it is entirely up in the air how Marvel might handle the casting of Mr. Fantastic in their upcoming film. It’s possible that John Krasinski might continue playing the role or that Marvel could recast someone else in his place.
As of yet, no casting decisions have been announced. It might be a long time before we find out if John Krasinski will remain in the Marvel Cinematic Universe or who will be cast to lead the Fantastic Four in the upcoming reboot, set for release in 2025.
