Marvel Comics boasts a widely expansive roster of unique, diverse, and relatable comic-book characters across many titles, team-ups and retcons. From the Avengers to the X-Men, every single detail that goes into creating the Marvel Universe is why it remains a staple in Geek Culture today. But despite all of the success from it’s many characters, the Fantastic Four will always be ‘Marvel’s First Family’. Debuting in 1961, Mr. Fantastic, The Invisible Woman, The Human Torch and Donald Trump… (sorry, that’s the wrong orange individual…), and The Thing became a staple superhero team and we’ve been following their adventures ever since. Sadly, the success of the Fantastic Four hasn’t always translated well on the big screen. To date, there have been three attempts at creating a viable franchise around our Fearsome Foursome but they all have never quite lived up to the hype.

Word on the street is that Twentieth Century Fox (the owners of the films rights of the Fantastic Four) may be attempting another reboot but this time it will be a more kid-friendly film by focusing on the children of Reed Richards aka Mr. Fantastic and Sue Storm aka The Invisible Woman. With that being said, if it does in fact happen… we thought we’d put our own GOC spin on the potential cast of a Fantastic Four reboot. Check it out below:

Sendhil Ramamurthy as MR. FANTASTIC

Reed Richards aka Mr. Fantastic is the leader of the Fantastic Four and has the ability to convert his body into a malleable state at will making him able to stretch, deform and reform himself into any shape. He has a genius level intellect and although he has good intentions sometimes his actions can cause more harm than good. Sendhil Ramamurthy is best known for his role a Mohinder Suresh on the series Heroes. Ramamurthy definitely has the ability to capture the charm, strength and relentless attitude needed to portray an iconic character like Mr. Fantastic.

Freida Pinto as THE INVISIBLE WOMAN

Sue Storm aka The Invisible Woman has the ability to turn invisible as well as generate force fields for defensive or offensive purposes. She is the wife of Reed Richards and is a force to be reckoned with. Freida Pinto rose to fame after starring in the Oscar-winning film Slumdog Millionaire and has went on to star in other films such as Immortals and Rise of The Planet of The Apes. She is undeniably capable of portraying Sue Storm in beauty, brain and brawn.

Dev Patel as THE HUMAN TORCH

Johnny Storm aka The Human Torch can turn his entire body into pure fire giving him the abilities of flight, pyrokinesis and much more. But no amount of superpower is as big as his ego. Dev Patel also rose to fame after starring in Slumdog Millionaire and has showcased his amazing acting ability in many projects after. Dev as the impulsive and narcissistic Johnny Storm would be very enjoyable to watch on the big screen.

Liev Schreiber as THE THING

Ben Grimm aka The Thing has super strength, stamina and durability but is mostly known for his rock-like, orange skin. He is devout in his Jewish faith and while he has a heart of gold, Ben is ferocious and deadly. Don’t be in his way when he says his famous line “It’s Clobberin’ Time” because what comes after isn’t pretty. Liev Schreiber is a Golden Globe nominee whose extensive acting resume (Salt, X-Men Origins: Wolverine, Ray Donovan) makes him completely capable of portraying the heart and sometimes brutal nature needed to play Ben Grimm.

Neel Sethi as FRANKLIN RICHARDS

Franklin Richards is the eldest son of Reed Richards and Sue Storm. He has a variety of abilities from telekinesis to reality warping. He is a mutant who is beyond Omega level and has even been considered to be equal to the Celestials. Despite his strength, Franklin is still just a kid which is why Neel Sethi is perfect to play him. He starred as Mowgli in the live action version of The Jungle Book and to be so young his on screen presence is breathtaking.

Unknown Indian American Actress as VALERIA RICHARDS

Valeria Richards is the second child of Reed and Sue but her comic-book origins are a bit more complex. In an alternate reality, she was actually the daughter of Sue Storm and Victor Von Doom but she used her power of time travel to come into the reality where Sue and Reed were together. Besides time travel Valeria also has the ability of super strength, invisibility, energy projection, genius level intellect and much more. We are extremely confident that there is an undiscovered child star capable of portraying Valeria.

Alexander Siddig as VICTOR VON DOOM

Victor Von Doom aka Doctor Doom is the arch-nemesis of the Fantastic Four and is a powerful sorcerer with a genius level intellect on par with Reed Richards. He hails from the fictional country of Latveria where he also serves as its ruler. His villainous nature has him at the center of most of Marvel Comics most epic storylines to date. From Star Trek to Game of Thrones, Siddig his an immense talent but more recently he can be seen as the iconic Ra’s al Ghul on the series Gotham. Siddig has what it takes to portray the charming yet sinister attitude needed to play an iconic villain like Doctor Doom.

Ralph Fiennes as GALACTUS

Galactus is an all-powerful being who came to be known as the Devourer of Worlds as he needs to consume life in order to remain in existence. He travels the universe seeking out planets he can devour and has come into contact with the Fantastic Four on several occasions from attempting to devour Earth. Ralph Fiennes is an Oscar-nominated actor who is no stranger to villainy as he has portrayed characters like Voldemort and Hades. His eyes alone can scare a zebra out of its stripes. If anyone can bring Galactus to life, Ralph is the guy.

Voice of Chris Obi as SILVER SURFER

Silver Surfer is a humanoid with metallic skin who became a herald of Galactus in order to protect his planet from being destroyed. He was endowed with the Power Cosmic in order to seek out planets across the galaxy for Galactus to consume. His abilities range from superhuman strength, time travel, being faster than the speed of sound, energy absorption and manipulation and much more. In a live action film, Silver Surfer’s body would be completely CGI but his voice must be powerful and intimidating which is why Chris Obi was chosen. He currently plays the Egyptian God of Death, Anubis, on the series American Gods.

Benedict Wong as MOLE MAN

Harvey Rupert Elder was an American Nuclear Engineer and explorer who fell into a deep cave leading him to the underground realm of Subterranea. He became the ruler of the creatures down there and with their technology he built an arsenal to aid him in launching attacks on the surface world as vengeance for the times he was ridiculed for his scientific theories and his dwarfish appearance among other things. The only actor capable of capturing the madness of Mole Man is Benedict Wong. He has starred in films like Doctor Strange and The Martian. He even portrayed Kublai Khan in the Netflix series Marco Polo.

Adewale Akinnuoye-Agbaje as DEVOS THE DEVASTATOR

Devos The Devastator is an alien vigilante whose sole purpose is to bring peace across the universe but his warped views causes him to seek out beings who he decides are potential threats. In a Fantastic Four reboot, it makes sense for the growing powers of Franklin and Valeria to become targets for him eliminate. Adewale Akinnuoye-Agbaje brings an intimidating factor to every role he plays whether it’s him as Killer Croc in Suicide Squad or Algrim in Thor: The Dark World. Agbaje has the fear factor needed to bring a character like Devos to life on screen.

THE FRIGHTFUL FOUR

Orlando Jones as THE WIZARD

Bentley Wittman is an inventor who possesses superhuman levels of genius intellect. He got the name “Wizard” while performing as a stage magician and escape artist. Out of boredom, he decided to become a professional criminal. He founded the Frightful Four, a team of villains formed to defeat The Fantastic Four. Orlando Jones can currently be seen on American Gods as Mr. Nancy and he also portrayed Frank Irving on the series Sleepy Hollow. A character like the Wizard requires someone capable of portraying a level madness that’s ominous and disturbing. Jones can do that and so much more.

Emily Beecham as Lucia Von Bardas

After Victor Von Doom was forcefully removed as the ruler of Latveria, Lucia Von Bardas was elected as the country’s prime minister. But during an attempt to assassinate her led by Nick Fury, Daisy Johnson aka Quake used her powers to destroy the castle Lucia was in. Von Bardas survived but now she dons a Cyborg-like body and has the abilities of flight and force field generation as well as being skilled in hand-to-hand combat. Emily Beecham is a talented actress with an impressive acting resume but it’s her role as the Widow on the series Into The Badlands that makes her capable of portraying a character like Lucia.

Rahul Kohli as HYDRO-MAN

Morris Bench aka Hydro-Man has the ability to manipulate water and possesses superhuman strength and durability. He is a typical low rent criminal that has been apart of several super-villain teams like the Sinister Syndicate and the Frightful Four. Rahul Kohli is an amazing talent who can currently be seen on the CW’s iZombie. While Hydro-Man doesn’t have an extensive backstory, Kohli definitely has what it takes to bring the character a much needed depth to make him iconic as well as memorable.

Gina Torress as THUNDRA

Thundra is a time traveling anti-heroine from the 23rd Century where Earth is now ruled by women known as Femizons. Believing that The thing is the most powerful man on Earth, she comes to the 20th Century to challenge him to one-on-one combat to prove that women are superior to men. She possesses superhuman strength, agility and reflexes and has been both enemy and ally to the Fantastic Four. Gina Torres is beautiful, ferocious and menacing, all qualities needed to bring a character like Thundra to the big screen. Torres’ ability can bring a depth to the character to make audiences understand why she makes the choices she makes.

The failed attempts at trying to make Fantastic Four a successful film franchise and the growing need for diversity in Hollywood is what inspired this list. Each actor chosen gives this superhero property a much needed vigor to make it stand out and to give each character an added layer of depth that makes them intriguing and relatable.

Published by Champ Johnson

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