Matt Smith Confirms Fantastic Four Role?
Twitter/X account Streamr Entertainment seemed about to end the rumors that Matt Smith had been cast in Fantastic Four as Reed Richards when they reported that Smith’s reps confirmed the actor had not been cast. Today, however, Streamr Entertainment claimed a second query to Matt Smith’s people resulted in a firm “no comment,” leaving the question of whether the 11th Doctor will be donning a blue onesie with a “4” on it anytime soon unanswered.
Matt Smith’s representatives have reportedly gone from denying the actor’s casting in Fantastic Four, to refusing to confirm or deny.
Fans, meanwhile, seem to be conflicted over Smith’s potential casting, with some in favor of the Terminator Genisys actor joining the MCU and others dead set against it.
The ongoing WGA and SAG-AFTRA strikes have halted any work Disney and Marvel Studios were doing on their upcoming Fantastic Four reboot, but that hasn’t stopped casting rumors from continuing to heat up like the Human Torch. The latest rumor revolved around Matt Smith being cast as Fantastic Four leader Reed Richards in the upcoming film.
The initial rumor was that actor Matt Smith had been offered the role in Fantastic Four prior to the start of the SAG-AFTRA strike. Given that members of SAG are forbidden from discussing work from struck companies—which Disney is—it may be a while before Matt Smith definitively confirms or denies his involvement with Marvel.
Fans, meanwhile, seem to be conflicted over Smith’s potential casting, with some in favor of the Terminator Genisys actor joining the MCU and others dead set against it.
One fan posted that they were glad to hear that Smith’s camp hadn’t firmly denied the actor’s involvement with the project.
Then there was X user glitched_snake, who responded to the news with several sick-face emojis.
While Matt Smith might technically already be a part of the MCU through his role in Morbius, given the movie’s unanimously accepted status as a hot garbage mess, no one is going to begrudge him for moving up to a more respectable IP like the Fantastic Four. Marvel had been rumored to be courting Adam Driver for the role of Reed Richards, though recent reports suggested Driver turned down the role.
[W]e’d like to point out that given his experience chewing the scenery as Kylo Ren, Driver would make a much better Dr. Doom than he would Reed Richards.
Neither rumor is likely to be confirmed or denied while the strike is active, effectively leaving all speculation on the cast of Fantastic Four in a sort of limbo.
Think of it like Schrodinger’s cast—Matt Smith is playing Richards in the Fantastic Four and not playing Richards in the Fantastic Four with equal probability, meaning that at the moment, he’s simultaneously cast and not cast.
The same goes for Adam Driver, although we’d like to point out that given his experience chewing the scenery as Kylo Ren, Driver would make a much better Dr. Doom than he would Reed Richards.
If Matt Smith is playing Reed Richards, AKA Mr. Fantastic, in Marvel’s Fantastic Four reboot, he’ll be the second Brit to do so. Welsh actor Ioan Gruffudd played Richards previously in the two Tim Story-directed Fantastic Four films, 2005’s Fantastic Four and 2007’s Fantastic Four: Rise of the Silver Surfer.
As of right now, IMDb has the new Fantastic Four scheduled for release on May 2, 2025, although that release date is bound to change depending on how long the strikes continue.
