It takes no stretch of the imagination to see Pedro Pascal as the patriarch of Marvel’s First Family. Having played father figures on hit series like Star Wars: The Mandalorian and The Last of Us, Pascal next brings his paternal instincts to Marvel’s The Fantastic Four: First Steps, where he portrays flexible father-to-be Reed Richards.
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As the fourth actor to depict the stretchy super-genius on the big screen — Alex Hyde-White first played the character in the unreleased 1994 Fantastic Four movie, with Ioan Gruffudd, Miles Teller, and John Krasinski all appearing in past cinematic iterations, from 2005’s Fantastic Four to 2015’s Fant4stic and 2022’s Doctor Strange in the Multiverse of Madness — Pascal considered all versions in his approach to the Marvel superhero.
“I’ll confess, I didn’t come at it with any sort of attempt at distinguishing it from previous authorships,” Pascal told Vanity Fair. “I need all of the context and all of the information to kind of like — it’s silly to use the word ‘spiritually’ — but to spiritually kind of like enter into an experience, because I can’t compartmentalize.”
“It’s all happened. It’s all been seen and done before by many,” he explained. “And so I want it all to kind of be living in my imagination.”
This time, Pascal’s co-stars are Vanessa Kirby (Mission: Impossible – Dead Reckoning) as Sue Storm/the Invisible Woman, who becomes pregnant with Reed’s child in a first for a Fantastic Four movie; Joseph Quinn (Stranger Things) as Sue’s brother, Johnny Storm/the Human Torch; and Ebon Moss-Bachrach (The Bear) as Reed’s best friend, Ben Grimm/the Thing.
“It’s been a dream to join the MCU,” said Pascal, who previously played the DC Comics villain Maxwell Lord in 2020’s Wonder Woman 1984. It was also a pleasure “to be invited into a family and to also just kind of step into what is an ensemble, the movie is called The Fantastic Four.”
While Reed Richards may be the leader of the Fantastic Four, Pascal noted, “If there was a competition of who’s funniest, who is smartest, and who is the most talented, I’m number four. And I’m not even being modest here.”
“I have never been around, how dare they, I’ve never been around such talented f—ers in my life,” he joked. “Joe is astonishing to me. Ebon is one of the funniest — Ebon, to me, is a writer in the way that his mind works and the zingers that come out in conversation. And Vanessa Kirby is a force of nature.”
Whereas Krasinski’s Reed Richards of Earth-838 was depicted as a father in his minor role in 2022’s Doctor Strange in the Multiverse of Madness — “I have children of my own,” he said while empathizing with Elizabeth Olsen’s Scarlet Witch — First Steps is the first time audiences will see Reed and Sue as a married couple with son Franklin Richards in live-action.
Kirby “was a leader for me in terms of getting into material like this and elevating it as much as we could, and making our relationship as real as it could possibly be,” Pascal said. “I have no idea what they’ll end up using [in the finished cut], but what she and I put into it was really a marriage story for us in the most human way: keeping a family together, starting to expand on that family, the fear of that.”
Directed by Matt Shakman (WandaVision), Marvel Studios’ The Fantastic Four: First Steps is set against the vibrant backdrop of a 1960s-inspired, retro-futuristic world. The reboot introduces Marvel’s First Family — Reed Richards, Sue and Johnny Storm, Ben Grimm — as they face their most daunting challenge yet.
“Forced to balance their roles as heroes with the strength of their family bond, they must defend Earth from a ravenous space god called Galactus (Ralph Ineson) and his enigmatic Herald, Silver Surfer (Julia Garner),” the synopsis reads. “And if Galactus’ plan to devour the entire planet and everyone on it weren’t bad enough, it suddenly gets very personal.”
Marvel Studios’ The Fantastic Four: First Steps is in theaters July 25. Pascal and his cast mates will then reprise their roles in 2026’s Avengers: Doomsday and 2027’s Avengers: Secret Wars.
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