Marvel Studios shocked fans on Valentine’s Day 2024 by (finally) announcing the cast of the upcoming Marvel Cinematic Universe reboot of The Fantastic Four.
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As was long rumored, Pedro Pascal (The Mandalorian, The Last of Us) will play Reed Richards/Mister Fantastic; Vanessa Kirby (Mission: Impossible, Napoleon) will play Sue Storm/Invisible Woman; Joseph Quinn (Stranger Things) will play Johnny Storm/The Human Torch, and Ebon Moss-Bachrach (Marvel’s The Punisher, The Bear) will play Ben Grimm/The Thing.
The other big reveal from Marvel Studios is that the Fantastic Four’s iconic robot assistant HERBIE is very much a part of the MCU movie. The only question now is: who should voice HERBIE?
More: Who Is HERBIE? Explained
John Krasinski
John Krasinski was an MCU fan-casting that came true in Doctor Strange in the Multiverse of Madness. However, Krasinski’s Reed Richards was a one-off; his voicing HERBIE would be a fun Easter egg nod.
Michael Chiklis
The Thing actor from the 2005 Fantastic Four movie is still famous for his gruff persona and voice (see: FX’s The Shield). If we want the kind of HERBIE who gives the F4 some guff, this is another great Easter egg nod.
James Spader
There’s a lot of hinting that The Fantastic Four could be set in a retro-themed time or reality. Wouldn’t it be creepy if HERBIE’s voice was Ultron actor James Spader, as a winking foreshadowing of how AI assistance can go very wrong?
John DiMaggio
John DiMaggio is one of the most prolific and famous voice actors working in the animated genre – in no small part due to his role as the surly robot “Bender” in Futurama. DiMaggio has already done voicework for DC and Star Wars – a big MCU role seems like a great next career goal.
Margot Robbie
Margot Robbie was fan-casted as Sue Storm for so many years it seems like a shame NOT to have her actually involved with Fantastic Four in some capacity. If Marvel Studios can cast the likes of Vin Diesel and Bradley Cooper as voice actors (see: Guardians of the Galaxy) they can snag Margot Robbie to play HERBIE. And who knows? A voice role might be the perfect way for Robbie to get out of those “When are you going to work with Marvel?” questions for good.
Christopher Walken
Christopher Walken has been one of the longest holdouts when it comes to joining the MCU franchise. HERBIE is the kind of out-of-left-field role he’d be perfect for.
Matt Damon
Matt Damon loves a good Marvel movie cameo – having already appeared in Thor: Ragnarok, Thor: Love & Thunder, and Deadpool 2. At this point, Damon should make it his schtick to only do unorthodox appearances in Marvel flicks – and HERBIE would be a great way for him to once again slide into the franchise without most fans realizing it.
Julian McMahon
Julian McMahon played Doctor Doom in the 2005 Fantastic Four film. He also has the kind of deep powerful voice that would sound pretty good in digital form, as a trusty AI guardian.
Pedro Pascal
Why look so hard for a voice for HERBIE when you can hire one in-house?
If Reed Richards creates HERBIE, it would make a certain amount of sense for the robot’s voice to be based on him. It also gives Pascal another fun way to approach Reed’s persona from multiple angles – the aloof scientist, the robot who is strangely more of a “dad” than the man – the maniacal variant known as The Maker, etc.
Point is: there are levels here we can play with…
Henry Cavill
Want to get DC and MCU fans all riled up? Cast Henry Cavill in a Marvel movie – but only in a voice role.
Cavill has shown that he is more than game to having fun with his own superhero looks and persona (see: Argylle… if you want to…). so he’d probably kill it playing a witty British-voiced robot character like HERBIE.
