The MCU's First Family

The MCU is finally adapting the First Family, known as the Fantastic Four as they received the rights from Fox. During a recent announcement given by Kevin Feige he revealed that the film is in development and will be directed by Spiderman's director, Jon Watts. Even more recently with Wandavision on air and filling up the internet with tons of fan theories, the most starting with the inclusion of Reed Richards, the team is on everyone's minds as to when we will see the group inside the Marvel Cinematic Universe. There have been reports that Doctor Victor von Doom will be appearing before the Fantastic Four, and some reports of certain casting calls for the roles.

Arguably the most important role would be that of Reed Richards. Going forward in the Marvel Cinematic Universe, he is undoubtedly going to be a key cog. Reed Richards is the leader of the Fantastic Four and one of the greatest minds inside Marvel Comics often rivaling that of Tony Stark. His great intelligence is also mirrored by his naive ignorance but he is a great hero who will most likely be a key figure moving forward within the MCU. The actor to portray the role will have to plenty of presence on screen and it seems that Marvel has been looking for that as they look for the next Reed Richards. Many fans have been linking John Krasinski to the role of Reed Richards since he had done A Quite Place, but if it were truly going to happen I think it would have by now. Krasinski also was originally up for the role of Captain America way back, but hilariously declined the role supposedly when he saw Chris Hemsworth walk by as Thor. Elsewhere from Krasinski, I could see Marvel look to younger actors who are coming up in the industry such as John David Washington or Rahul Kohli. I think they would be more inclined to lean toward John David Washington as he has more experience as a leading man in bigger films such as Tenet. Another dark horse candidate for the role would be Lakeith Stanfield from Get Out and Judas and the Black Messiah or even Glenn Howerton from It's Always Sunny in Philadelphia.

As of today it has been rumored and largely accepted that Jennifer Lawrence is being cast as Sue Storm for the upcoming franchise. However, it kind of seems like a debunked rumor or Marvel is waiting to make a big announcement. The character, much like Reed Richards, is incredibly smart but unlike him in that she is frequently the one to keep everyone in the group in line. She is incredibly warm, caring and the most responsible of the group which she uses to keep everyone honest with themselves and amongst one another. Jennifer Lawrence is a surprising choice for the role, but she is a very capable actress as she has shown on the film Silver Linings Playbook and American Hustle. I think it is a slightly uninspired choice, but I do not doubt that she can pull off the role well. She certainly can hold her own as well as believably play the vulnerable sides of Sue Storm. Even more surprising that she took the role as after her work in the X-Men and Hunger Games franchises, she stated that she wanted no more work in franchises. I would assume her brief hiatus from movies may have changed her mind, or simply a chance to work under Disney and Marvel was all too much to pass up on. Still, she could make Sue Storm the best version we have seen on film to date. My personal choices for the role were Samara Weaving, Sarah Gadon or Lily James.

For any Stranger Things fans, this one seems like a no brainer choice. Dacre Montgomery played the role of Billy in the hit Netflix series and after seeing that, Montgomery seemed to be on the list for a couple upcoming roles within the Marvel Cinematic Universe. Johnny Storm is incredibly brash, charismatic and a bit arrogant. Despite his shortcomings he is quick to throw himself into new challenges or face danger in order to potentially make the world a better place, even more so he does these things because he is absolutely unwilling to let his sister or his teammates down. Their opinion of him is paramount. All of that seems to scream Montgomery once more after his portrayal of Billy. He has plenty of charm and certainly very brash and arrogant within that show. He also seems to fit the mold of an actor that is young and on the rise. If Marvel goes a different direction I could also see Glen Powell get a chance.

Ben Grimm is an incredibly hard part to get right and also hard to predict. Is the character just going to be a voice and motion capture, or a fully realized portrayal. It is hard to guess at the moment and even harder to guess who could be in line to take on the role. Ben is a rare breed and frequently the heart of the group. He is incredible sensitive over his new found look after his transformation, but also very protective of his friends. Through this he is a strong combination of brawn and heart. From a pure standpoint of the nailing the voice I could see Marvel take a look at someone like Ron Perlman, and I get it a lot of people had said the same for Rocket Raccoon in Guardians of the Galaxy but to me it is a perfect choice for this role. If the part includes an actual performance beyond just voice work then I think Liev Schreiber would be great in the role. He has tremendous range as demonstrated in the series Ray Donovan and familiar with the superhero films as he did play Sabretooth in X-Men Origins. Even though the film was panned, his performance was strong in the role.

It has been recently hinted that Michael Fassbender has been the favorite within Marvel to land the role of the greatest Marvel villain, Doctor Doom and that the character would be appearing as a villain in the sequel to Black Panther. However, it is unknown whether or not the character will still appear in it considering re-writes following the tragic passing of Chadwick Boseman. It was also hinted at that the character could also appear in Ant-Man 3, so it is highly likely that Marvel is looking at Dr. Doom as a long arching villain within their universe, as he deserves to be. It was reported that one producer within the company stated that the role will be "a serious villain but in the mold of Thanos and Erik Killmonger, whose worldview occupies that gray twilight zone between good and evil. As dictator of Latveria, Doom will do everything to protect the people under his rule." They also liken his appearance to that of Darth Vader, which makes sense as there are parallels between Marvel films and the old Star Wars films. However, much like Vader, Doom has a sense of anonymity which is a major part of the intrigue and suspense of the character while also making him incredibly intimidating. The character has an extremely big ego to the point that he has spoken about himself in the third person, his intelligence rivals that of anyone on the planet all to the point that he believes he should rule the world. Fassbender would be an incredible choice to play the role as he was absolutely brilliant as Magneto in the X-Men series and every other role he has played he has shown a strong sense for intimidation, strength and genius. Furthermore, if the role is going to be the next big bad of the MCU, a strong actor like Fassbender could certainly shoulder the load in a post Thanos world. Other potential actors Marvel could look at would include Cillian Murphy and Christoph Waltz.