Fantastic 4: Disappointing John Krasinski Reed Richards news delivered by Marvel director

This year things expanded exponentially for the Marvel Cinematic Universe. Doctor Strange in the Multiverse of Madness sent the titular hero into a collection of new universes to meet new characters. One of these universes was controlled by The Illuminati, a secret organisation which was made up of some iconic comic book heroes, including Professor X, Captain Carter and Black Bolt.

But perhaps the most exciting was the arrival of Reed Richards – the leader of the Fantastic 4.

Reed was played by The Office star John Krasinski. This casting was even more exciting considering fans online had been fancasting the star as the character for years.

Things didn’t end very well for Reed when he went up against Wanda, however, who shredded him like string cheese. And this may have been the final time fans saw Krasinski as the character.

In the commentary of Doctor Strange’s sequel, director Sam Raimi spoke out about hiring Krasinski as Mr Fantastic. In the candid chat, he revealed that it was the idea of Kevin Feige, the President of Marvel Studios, to hire Krasinski.

“It’s so funny that Kevin [Feige] cast John [Krasinski],” Raimi said. “Because the fans had a dream of who the perfect Reed Richards would be.”

Raimi went on to talk about Feige granting this “dream” to fans. He insinuated that it was nothing more than a cameo.

The Spider-Man director said: “Because this is an alternate universe, I think Kevin said: ‘Let’s make that dream come true.’ I’ve always really enjoyed all of [Krasinski’s] performances.”

This veiled farewell to Krasinski’s spot in the MCU may mean he is not returning for the future. Of course, this will be devastating news for fans.

The American actor has long been called on to play Reed Richards – and he did a great job in Multiverse of Madness! – but was his cameo just a way of placating fans?

Another writer in the MCU seems to think so.

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Marvel announced they are producing a Fantastic 4 movie to be released in the next few years. The film does not have a concrete release date just yet, but there are some options.

Disney confirmed plans to release four Marvel movies throughout 2024. These dates are: February 16, May 3, July 26 and November 18.

Chances are, one of these slots will be taken by Fantastic 4. But that does mean we have a long wait until the fantastic heroes hit the screen once again.

Krasinski would be a welcome return to the series. Even if he felt as if he shouldn’t have been cast in the first place.

Krasinski previously spoke out about the fervour over him becoming Reed Richards. He said: “I actually felt stupid. I wanted to email Kevin Feige and be like: ‘Sorry, man. I wasn’t trying to like put pressure on you. You’re the man.’”

He added he felt like he had “over calculated” how much he had spoken on the subject. “And then you get older,” he added. “And you just go: ‘I don’t know, I’m going to be honest.’ And my honest answer was like: ‘Hell yeah. I’d play Mr Fantastic.’”

Krasinski confessed he “didn’t know” it would make headlines. “I thought it would just be the eighth question in that interview. But it’s true,” he said.

Doctor Strange in the Multiverse of Madness is available to stream on Disney Plus now.

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