Marvel’s Kevin Feige: Fantastic Four Cast Announcement Not Coming Any Time “Soon”

Fantastic Four producer Kevin Feige hopes to announce more Marvel news in the “near future” — but a cast reveal of Marvel’s first family isn’t coming any time “soon.” The Marvel Studios President formally announced the Fantastic Four reboot in December, setting Spider-Man director Jon Watts to bring the foursome into the Marvel Cinematic Universe. By February of this year, Justin Kroll of Deadline reported Marvel Studios had only recently begun meeting with writers and that it would be “a while” before the undated film begins shooting. Marvel has dated films throughout 2023, including Black Panther and Guardians of the Galaxy sequels, with three dates reserved in the third and fourth quarter of 2023.

“I don’t think it’s soon,” Feige told ET Online when asked to reveal when Marvel might announce the cast of Fantastic Four. “This [Black Widow] is our first red carpet event in two years. We’ll see what happens with upcoming gatherings and fan events where we can release more news. I hope sometime in the near future.”

Real-life married couple and A Quiet Place co-stars John Krasinski and Emily Blunt are frequently fan-cast as Reed and Sue Richards, but Blunt has called the casting choice “flattering” but “hypothetical.” Internet rumors once claimed ex X-Men star Jennifer Lawrence would play Marvel’s Invisible Woman, but such rumors were swiftly debunked.

After Disney completed its acquisition of 20th Century Fox in 2019, Feige teased the future additions of the Fantastic Four and the X-Men to the MCU during that summer’s San Diego Comic-Con. A slew of announcements — the then-untitled Black Panther 2, Captain Marvel 2, and Guardians of the Galaxy 3 — meant Feige “didn’t even have time to talk about” mutants or the Fantastic Four, characters whose film rights were now under the Marvel Studios umbrella.

Asked about the presentation-ending tease by ComicBook.com, Feige said at the time, “That means that we have them back and we are working towards it.” Feige later told Variety that he’s “extremely excited about those characters and about bringing Marvel’s First Family up to the platform and the level that they deserve.”

Marvel Studios’ next releases include Black Widow (July 9), Shang-Chi and the Legend of the Ten Rings (September 3), Eternals (November 5), and Spider-Man: No Way Home (December 17). The studio has set untitled movies for July 28, October 6, and November 10, 2023.