Fantastic Four: Shameless Star Emmy Rossum “Utterly Devastated” When She Lost Role in Reboot

The Fantastic Four have had a pretty tragic history in live-action. The last two film franchises flopped both critically and at the box office. 2015’s Fantastic Four was directed by Josh Trank and starred Miles Teller, Michael B. Jordan, Kate Mara, Jaime Bell and Toby Kebbell as Doctor Doom. Back when 20th Century Fox was casting the film, they almost went with Shameless star Emmy Rossum over Mara for the role of Susan Storm/The Invisible Woman. The studio ultimately went with Mara for the role and the rest is history. While appearing on Josh Horrowitz’s Happy Sad Confused podcast, Rossum revealed that losing the role was devastating.

“Yes, I did not get it. Devastated, utterly devastated,” Rossum said. “I remember where I was when I didn’t get it. I was with my now-husband on a beach somewhere, and I got the call that I didn’t get it, and I was pretty sure I didn’t get it because I did not feel that the screen-test went well. I just didn’t hook into that character at all, I didn’t understand the dialogue, I couldn’t sell it, I was like ‘I don’t know what to do with my lines, I can’t find my in here,’ but I was still…”

“I think I did [want it]. There’s part of me that thinks that that kind of transformation, when it works, is really fun. When it is Iron Man, when it is those things that feel like, they feel really unique, I think it can really work.” The Shameless actress added.

Doctor Strange in the Multiverse of Madness introduced us to a multiversal version of the Illuminati that featured John Krasinski as Mr. Fantastic. Recently, the films writer Michael Waldron revealed that they never looked at fan castings while casting the Illuminati. Although, Krasinski was definitely an exception, as he was one of those names who continued to pop up around conversations of the Fantastic Four. During a recent interview with ComicBook.com, we asked Waldron how they cast the groups key roles.

“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.”

Marvel Studios describes Doctor Strange in the Multiverse of Madness as follows: “To restore a world where everything is changing, Strange seeks help from his ally Wong, the Sorcerer Supreme, and the Avengers’ most powerful Scarlet Witch, Wanda. But a terrible threat looms over humanity and the entire universe that no longer can be done by their power alone. Even more surprising, the greatest threat in the universe looks exactly like Doctor Strange.” 

The film is directed by the legendary Sam Rami and will star Benedict Cumberbatch as Doctor Strange, Benedict Wong as Wong, Rachel McAdams as Christine Palmer, Elizabeth Olsen as Wanda Maximoff/ Scarlet Witch, Patrick Stewart as Professor Charles Xavier, Xochitl Gomez as America Chavez and Chiwetel Ejiofor as Baron Mordo. Doctor Strange in the Multiverse of Madness is set to hit theaters on May 5th, 2022!

Would you have like to see Emmy Rossum as Susan Storm? Let us know in the comments below or by hitting up our writer @NateBrail on Twitter!