Fantastic Four: John Krasinski Would Still “Love” to Be Mr. Fantastic

Fantastic Four hopeful John Krasinski says he would still “love” to play Reed Richards in the Marvel Cinematic Universe. Fans have long named Krasinski as a candidate for the role, similarly nominating real-life wife Emily Blunt for the role of Susan Richards, Reed’s wife and matriarch of the Fantastic Four family. The couple — who next re-team on the Krasinski-directed A Quiet Place II — would lead the coming reboot under the creative charge of Kevin Feige and Marvel Studios, who inherited the Fantastic Four film rights when parent company Disney acquired previous rights holders 20th Century Fox for $71.3 billion in 2019.

“You’re like, ‘Do you have any interest in not shattering people’s dreams?’” Krasinski said with a laugh in Total Film Magazine. “I would love to be in the Marvel universe. I love those movies because they’re fun, but I also think they’re really well done. And certainly a lot of my friends are in those movies. I have no idea what [Marvel] are thinking. But if they are considering me for Mr. Fantastic, continue to considered me because I would love it.”

Krasinski was once in the running for the role of Captain America, eventually awarded to Krasinski’s friend Chris Evans. Blunt has similarly come close to boarding the MCU, citing scheduling conflicts as the reason she turned down the role of Peggy Carter — Captain America’s love interest and eventual wife — and spy-turned-Avenger Black Widow, a role ultimately won by Scarlett Johansson.

While the Jack Ryan star has admitted he’s not a comic book fan, Krasinski has said he’d “love to do” a superhero project — especially if it reunited him onscreen with Blunt. The couple only first appeared together in horror hit A Quiet Place in 2018.

“Oh yeah, the Fantastic Four. I would love that,” Krasinski previously told Screen Rant. “I mean listen, I’m still getting into the whole superhero thing. I didn’t read comics as a kid, not as many, I read some but not as much, but I’m a huge superhero fan, so yeah, I’d love to do something like that. If there are any left, a lot of these have been taken, but the ones that are left, yeah, I would love to do something like that. And listen, I’d love to work with [Blunt] again so any chance I got would be great.”

Marvel Studios has not yet formally announced its Fantastic Four reboot. A Quiet Place II opens March 20.