Considering the dire situation Marvel Studios is in right now, despite some recent wins, it’s surprising that most people are pretty excited about the upcoming Fantastic Four reboot. This is largely thanks to the attractive cast that the studio has assembled, and we’re now even hearing about talented actors like Rahul Kohli, who almost played a key role in it.
Anyone who’s seen Mike Flanagan’s excellent recent series for Netflix is well aware of just how good (and flexible) Curley’s performance is, so this is a tough blow for us – even though we love Pedro Pascal and the idea of him playing Reed Richards, aka Mr. Fantastic.
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In an interview with Salaam Nerds (via Deadline), the actor confirmed that at one point he was one of the actors who actually auditioned for the coveted role, long after being chosen by fans for Richards: “Yeah, I don’t know if I’m allowed to talk about it, but I didn’t get it, and that’s the biggest thing… It blows up over and over again. And, I love all of them. On the good days, you’re like, ‘Man, I’m needed!’ People really want to see you. You’re the kind of person that people will holler for anything.” It’s hard to imagine how many incredibly popular actors have auditioned for such an important Marvel Cinematic Universe role, but we can say for sure that the name Curley has come up in fan conversations time and time again.
Looking at the massive cast that currently includes Pedro Pascal, Vanessa Kirby, Joseph Quinn, Eben Moss-Bachrach, Julia Garner, Paul Walter-Hauser, John Malkovich, Ralph Ineson, and Natasha Lyonne, it seems like Disney and Marvel are doing everything they can to make casual fans care about the reboot as much as die-hard fans. As far as Mister Fantastic is concerned, Pascal is a smart choice after starring in The Mandalorian and HBO’s The Last of Us. It would be fun to have some unexpected choices in the main cast, though, and Curley has shown some Wonderfully Delicate performances of plays such as Midnight Mass and The Fall of the House of Usher.
With Deadpool and Wolverine set to make a splash at the box office this summer, Marvel Studios is now focused on making its 2025 movies (and the next batch of Disney Plus shows) as perfect as possible. Aside from Fantastic Four, the most anticipated projects right now are the long-awaited X-Men reboot, X-Men 97 Season 2, and Daredevil: Resurgence. Everything else feels like it needs to earn people’s trust again.
