Photo Credit: @marvel/YouTube
The Fantastic Four: First Steps actor Pedro Pascal is fully aware that a portion of the Marvel fandom did not want him to be Reed Richards in the Marvel Cinematic Universe.
Pascal’s casting as Reed Richards/Mister Fantastic was announced by Marvel Studios on Valentine’s Day 2024, alongside Vanessa Kirby as Sue Storm/Invisible Woman, Joseph Quinn as Johnny Storm/Human Torch, and Ebon Moss-Bachrach as Ben Grimm/The Thing. The rest of the movie’s cast was unveiled over the following months, with Julia Garner and Ralph Ineson coming aboard as Silver Surfer and Galactus, respectively.
However, Pascal wasn’t Marvel’s first choice for Reed Richards, with reports indicating that Matt Smith, Adam Driver, Christopher Abbott, Jamie Dornan, and Jake Gyllenhaal either met with the studio or screen-tested for the role.
Pedro Pascal lists the three main complaints surrounding his Mister Fantastic casting
Speaking with Vanity Fair (via ComicBookMovie) for its cover story, Pascal admitted to knowing that he was not the fandom’s first choice for Reed Richards, acknowledging, “You just never know if people are going to be disgusted by your heart or not. I’m more aware of disgruntlement around my casting than anything I’ve ever done. ‘He’s too old. He’s not right. He needs to shave.’”
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Out of those three complaints, Pascal not going clean-shaven for First Steps seems to have been the one that fans have taken the most issue with. While Reed Richards has sported a beard in the comics, he is usually depicted as clean-shaven, with the decision to keep Pascal’s scruffy facial hair for the MCU version not being that well-received by the fandom. However, in the end, Pascal’s performance is what will either win fans over or not. With The Fantastic Four: First Steps set to hit theaters at the end of July, fans will not have to wait long to see how Pascal stacks up to the previous big-screen iterations of Reed Richards.
With a runtime of 115 minutes, the Matt Shakman-directed The Fantastic Four: First Steps will open in theaters on July 25, 2025, as the first film in Phase 6 of the MCU.
