Pedro Pascal is the Marvel Cinematic Universe’s Reed Richards/Mister Fantastic, but he is not the new leader of the Avengers. At least that’s what the actor says… for now.
An interview “Fantastic Four: First Steps” director Matt Shakman gave to Variety earlier this month went viral for seemingly revealing that Pascal’s superhero would be going on to lead the Avengers. It wasn’t a far-fetched possibility for fans, as Pascal and his “Fantastic Four” co-stars Vanessa Kirby, Joseph Quinn and Ebon Moss-Bachrach are all returning for next year’s “Avengers: Doomsday.”
According to Shakman, Reed was the hardest role to cast in “Fantastic Four” because “he goes from being the nerdy scientist who’s locked away in the lab, to the husband and the father who’d do anything to protect his family, to the guy who’s leading the Avengers.”
“I realized that the version we were building had to have all of those elements,” Shakman said.
But Shakman’s comment was a bit of a mislead, according to Pascal. Speaking to the Associated Press, the “Last of Us” and “Mandalorian” favorite downplayed that leading the Avengers is the arc for his version of Reed Richards.
“It’s big news to me, that’s for one,” Pascal said. “I think Matt Shakman was doing an interview and when he was speaking about Reed… there is something that happens in the comics where he is sort of drawn in by the Avengers family and asked to be put into a leadership position. That is something that happens in the comics. It isn’t necessarily something that my character’s future entails.””
Pascal then stressed, “I am being honest in that. I am not even trying to avoid spoilers. It’s a little bit of a mislead.”
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Shakman and Pascal have known each other for years and had the same talent manager at the beginning of their careers. Pascal told Variety that “coming together for ‘Fantastic Four’ felt absolutely fated in the stars.”
None of the four actors who play the Fantastic Four had traditional auditions for the movie. Instead, they were all cast after a meeting with Shakman. There were no chemistry tests either, although the group did have three weeks of rehearsals before filming started.
“We approached the story dramaturgically as you would a play, before we got on our feet with anything,” Pascal said. “It was Matt setting up the circumstances to be together as a cast and flesh out a language that bonded each of us together as a family.”
“Fantastic Four” is now playing in theaters nationwide from Marvel Studios and Disney.
From Variety US