Fantastic Four: Casting Marvel’s First Family in the MCU
By Mark Lynch
Reed Richards
Reed Richards is the leader of the Fantastic Four and one of the smartest people in comics. His intelligence is enough to make Lex Luthor hang his head in shame. The stretchy super powers are great, but without his big brain, he’d be just another guy with powers. He’s created things that are literally impossible – even by fantasy standards. The person who plays Reed has to pull off intelligence, leadership, and his famous naivete. Reed can split an atom in his sleep, but has the common sense of a child.
Ioan Gruffudd was perfect and this writer wouldn’t be opposed to seeing him in the role again. Nonetheless, it looks like the world has spoken on who should play him.
John Krasinski may have more support to play a comic book role than anyone. Playing Jim Halpert in The Office gave him stardom while his roles in A Quiet Place and Tom Clancy’s Jack Ryan showed his range. Now we know that he can do more than be goofy and do it well. Each of the roles mentioned showed different aspects of Reed Richards too. A Quiet Place showed Krasinski as a caring family man while Jack Ryan proved he could be a man of action and intelligence. There’s no way he wouldn’t do fantastic in this role.