Producer Matthew Vaughn and director Josh Trank have been doing everything in their power to distance their “Fantastic Four” reboot from the earlier goofy films. Not content with just casting great young actors as the famous superhero team, the filmmakers are looking to surprise with their villain choice too.
Played by TV actor Julian McMahon in the two Tim Story-helmed films, Dr. Doom (aka Victor von Doom) is the chief antagonist of the superheroic foursome and a genius in his own right. So which actor will don the armor and hood next? According to The Wrap, it’s down to four: Sam Riley, Eddie Redmayne, Toby Kebbell and Domhnall Gleeson. Gleeson and Riley are both inspired choices in the same vein as rising talents Michael B. Jordan and Miles Teller, with Redmayne in a similar position as Kate Mara and Jamie Bell, talented actors who’ve been in the game a while but are probably known to a certain extent. Meanwhile, Kebbell has been amassing roles in a few blockbusters already, with stints in “Prince of Persia: The Sands of Time,” “The Sorcerer’s Apprentice,” “Wrath of the Titans” and a role in this year’s “Dawn of the Planet of the Apes,” which is being released by 20th Century Fox, something that could help sway the decision.
But the casting process hasn’t been easy, with certain pockets of die hard fans unable, or unwilling, to see any deviation from what they read as children, and are thus acting like children. And while Michael B. Jordan has faced some scrutiny about playing the Human Torch, mostly from unimaginative people, he’s taking it all in stride.
“It was expected. You kinda know going into it that people are used to seeing something one way; it’s a continuity thing more than anything. People don’t like change too much. But annoyed? Eh, you just kinda accept it, it is what it is. You can’t make everybody happy,” he told press (via ComingSoon). “You just gotta accept that and know. I’m an actor, I have to do my job. I’m going to do my job the best I can and the way I’ve been doing it my entire life, my entire career. I grew up a comic book guy, I read comic books as a kid growing up, and the Fantastic Four/Human Torch is one of my favorite characters so I’m going to give it my everything. I can’t wait. I don’t really let it bother me at all. I just want to go into it and do the best job I can. We’ll see what happens.”
Meanwhile, in other comic-book movie news, a THR reporter tweeted that the latest director in the mix to helm the long-mooted “Doctor Strange” movie for Marvel is “Sinister” director Scott Derrickson. Since the property has supernatural overtones—psychic powers anyone?—it makes a certain kind of logic that a director known for horror would figure in somehow. This one’s still a long way off, so don’t expect a final decision anytime soon. Let us know who should direct the wonderfully bizarre “Doctor Strange” movie below.