Let’s put it this way, no one has been able to nail down a successful cast for the Fantastic Four just yet, but now folks are calling for Brandon Routh, the same guy that’s played Superman for DC and The Atom to play the part of Reed Richards. There are even some that think Seth Rogen could take over for the role of Ben Grimm. Seriously…someone thought that Seth Rogen would be a good Ben Grimm. It’s hard to know if that’s a joke or if someone is really seeing this as a good idea. But if the fans are going to be the ones that ultimately influence the casting of the next Fantastic Four movie it’s very likely that things will never get any better. For one, it might be time to ditch the origin story with the FF simply because in the last two versions it just hasn’t worked. The initial shot at this team back in the 90s with Jessica Alba and Chris Evans wasn’t such a bad attempt, but it fell flat pretty quickly when Dr. Doom became such a two-dimensional villain, since the fact that he’s such a huge villain not just for the FF but throughout the Marvel universe, he came off as little more than a prop in the initial movie, and too much of a force in the later version with Kate Mara and Michael B. Jordan.
Brandon Routh might not have been the worst Superman ever, but he’s definitely not about to be the best Mr. Fantastic, or so it feels since while John Krasinski is still a strong contender he’s also not the only other person that might be considered. But the big reason, besides casting, that this next FF movie might be another failure could be due to the fact that Marvel hasn’t exactly treated this family of heroes with that much respect since they first came in. The initial FF movie that most people have forgotten about wasn’t even meant to be remembered, and the trailer was beyond terrible. But this time around, even with the chance of having the effects to make it work, it’s very likely that the MCU is still going to trip over its own feet and make a mistake that will be unforgivable by the fans. Everyone has their own idea for the casting decisions, so I guess tossing mine in wouldn’t hurt. John Krasinski could play a great Mr. Fantastic, and out of the picks that are out there already, Emily Blunt would be a great pick to play The Invisible Woman. Zac Efron is a great choice for Johnny Storm thanks to his ability to cop an attitude on-screen with barely any effort, while John Cena, who’s going to be starring in the next Fast and Furious movie, would be a perfect choice for Ben Grimm since he and Krasinski are opposite enough in body shape and temperament to make the whole friendship between Grimm and Reed Richards work beautifully. As for the villain, it’s hard to say really since the Fantastic Four have a bunch, but this could be why turning their story into a series would be better than giving them a movie.
It would be a lot of fun to see the Mole Man make an appearance, and Nihilus, and perhaps even bring in Galactus and the Silver Surfer and possibly involve the Avengers at some point. Mads Mikkelsen might actually make a great Dr. Doom, but there are other menacing individuals that could play the villain in a convincing manner as well. But that’s my idea for what it’s worth, and the plan should be to abandon the origin story save for various flashbacks, or perhaps as a part of the opening to the series to show how things happened, just as a reminder. After all, Tom Holland’s Spider-Man story didn’t include the origin, and he’s been doing great so far. It might be time to leave origin stories behind unless they’re extensive, like Wolverine’s for instance, and just push ahead to show the heroes in action and get them right into the swing of it. There’s always a desire to see how they started out, but that time has come and gone for a lot of stories since it’s time now to simply get to the point and see what they can do. If nothing else, it frees up a big chunk of time that might otherwise be spent explaining once again how someone received their powers. Heroes such as Moon Knight will no doubt need to have their origin stories explored, but apart from that, it’s time to let the heroes do what they do since otherwise, the MCU is going to be spending too much time in the building phase to really get to the action.
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