Julia Garner Has A Surprising Role In The New Fantastic Four Movie

After about half a decade of fan-casts and theories, Marvel has finally confirmed which four actors will take up the mantle of the franchise’s famous First Family. Of course, this isn’t the first time the Fantastic Four have been adapted for the big screen, but Marvel’s upcoming movie will be the first to bring the iconic group into the studio’s ever-expanding cinematic universe. There have been so many rumors about who would play these parts, but only some of the speculation turned out to be true.

Unlike other MCU movies, the Fantastic Four already has an extensive live-action film history. The 2005 movie Fantastic Four as well as its 2007 sequel Rise of the Silver Surfer starred Ioan Gruffud as Mr. Fantastic, Jessica Alba as Invisible Woman, Chris Evans as Human Torch, and Michael Chiklis as The Thing. When the franchise got rebooted in 2015, Miles Teller played Mr. Fantastic, Kate Mara was Invisible Woman, Michael B. Jordan was Human Torch, and Jamie Bell played The Thing.

Following Disney’s acquisition of 20th Century Fox in 2019, reports began to surface that Marvel was planning its own new iteration of the Fantastic Four. They finally announced the movie in 2021, and the internet has been going wild with fan-casts ever since.

Things got especially electric after John Krasinski appeared as Mr. Fantastic in 2022’s Doctor Strange in the Multiverse of Madness. Some fans thought the cameo meant he was a lock for the role, while others pointed out Krasinski was only a multiversal version of Reed Richards.

Turns out, those skeptics were right, because Krasinski didn’t land the role of the super-stretchy hero in The Fantastic Four. Here’s who did:

Meet The New First Family

Marvel finally confirmed its The Fantastic Four cast in a tweet on Feb. 14, 2024. Pedro Pascal was already heavily rumored to play Mr. Fantastic after director Matt Shakman kind of spoiled the casting on Instagram, and sure enough, he will be stretching his way into the MCU as Reed Richards.

The rest of the four were also widely rumored for their roles among fans long before the casting announcement. Vanessa Kirby will project forcefields as Sue Storm/Invisible Woman, Stranger Things breakout Joseph Quinn will get fired up as Johnny Storm/Human Torch, and The Bear’s Ebon Moss-Bachrach will start smashing as The Thing.

An Iconic Antihero Will Be Reimagined

One of the Fantastic Four’s most well-known nemeses is the Silver Surfer, a metallic entity who flies through space a light-speed in search of planets for his all-consuming master Galactus to consume. The powerful sentry was portrayed by Doug Jones in 2007’s Fantastic Four: Rise of the Silver Surfer, but Marvel’s new movie has cast Julia Garner to play a lesser-known iteration of the surfer.

Garner will play Shalla-Bal, the lover of the original Silver Surfer. In one Marvel Comics timeline, she joined her beloved and became a second Silver Surfer, which seems to be the universe that the Fantastic Four movie will explore.

It’ll Be A While

Good news: The Fantastic Four already has an announced premiere date. Bad news: It’s a long way away. The movie is slated to kick off Marvel’s Phase Six, premiering on July 25, 2025.