Doctor Strange in the Multiverse of Madness took fans on a radical trip across multiple realities, giving fans their first look at a live-action Reed Richards since Miles Teller’s performance in Josh Trank’s Fantastic Four in 2015. In the Doctor Strange sequel, John Krasinski appeared as the beloved character, much to the delight of fan-casters everywhere. As it turns out, however, Krasinski wasn’t Marvel’s first choice to play the patriarch of Marvel’s First Family. In fact, another Hollywood A-lister was first expected to play the role.
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According to Deadline’s Justin Kroll, Bond alumnus Daniel Craig was set to play Richards but eventually opted to pass because he didn’t want to risk bringing COVID back home to his family. “Fun fact, Krasinski wasn’t the first choice,” the scooper shared late Friday night. “The actor originally set to play the role was all set to shoot but when there was an uptick in COVID cases, he backed out as he was living in London and didn’t think the quick shoot wasn’t worth risk of bringing back COVID to the fam.”
Kroll then included a GIF of Craig playing his most famous role yet.
When Multiverse of Madness writer Michael Waldron spoke with ComicBook.com earlier this month, he suggested fan service never factored in to any of the studio’s decision-making when it came to deciding members of the franchise’s live-action Illuminati.
“Of course, I guess,” Waldron revealed. “It’s easy to be seduced by the cheap laugh, the cheap cheer, whatever. But that’s never what Marvel or Sam [Raimi] were interested in. It was always about what’s right for the story, what’s right for Steven Strange, what’s right for Wanda. It was never about fan service, really. It was like, ‘If these Illuminati characters are here, they should be here because that’s who’s in the Illuminati in the comics, and that’s who would actually be in the Illuminati.’ That was our north star.”
Doctor Strange in the Multiverse of Madness is now showing exclusively in theaters around the world. What’d you think about the sequel? Let us know your thoughts either in the comments section or by hitting our writer @AdamBarnhardt up on Twitter to chat all things MCU!
