Marvel’s First Family Casting Thread

[Stark Bauer]

why does he have blue skin

did he drink colloidal silver (RIP Papa Smurf)

 

[Crimz]

It's part of his helmet/mask. Future tech makes it like a second skin.

 

[Detective Conan]

Guess we’ll be stuck with those John Krasinski and Emily Blunt fancasts for a while then.

 

[Crimz]

Ugh. I hope we'll at least find out soon who will be the writer.

 

[KRYPTON INC.]

why does he have blue skin

did he drink colloidal silver (RIP Papa Smurf)

He doesn't.

The BEST primer on Kang is AVENGERS FOREVR, truly one of the greatest Avengers stories ever done.

 

[Stark Bauer]

It's part of his helmet/mask. Future tech makes it like a second skin.

alright, well i always assumed he was kinds Apocalypse-ish or Archangel-like due to what appeared to be blue face

 

[BobJM]

What about Ana de Armas as Sue Storm and Diego Josef as Johnny Storm? He’s been in a few projects but most recently HBOMax’s Genera+ion.

 

[Stark Bauer]

maybe if they bleached their hair. call me shallow but that is non-negotiable.

 

[Willie Lumpkin]

maybe if they bleached their hair. call me shallow but that is non-negotiable.

I keep hearing “diversity, diversity, diversity”, which is probably code for “no blonde white people”.

 

[Dr. Evil]

I keep hearing “diversity, diversity, diversity”, which is probably code for “no blonde white people”.

Well, Seth Rogen would count. He's white, but he's not blond.

I am 100% on board the Seth Rogen as Ben Grimm bandwagon, only because of a possible interaction with Paul Rudd's Scott Lang.

 

[Dasher10]

When I hear, "diversity" I think that they'll get rid of Ben Grimm's Jewish heritage. Ben Grimm can't really be race swapped without becoming a completely different character. Ben Grimm speaks with a New York Jewish accent and often says things in Yiddish. If you make it so his ancestors weren't Eastern European Jews, he's effectively not the same character. Plus he was based on his own creator, Jack Kirby.

The rest I don't really care about. Both Storms have been racebent in the past and I feel like John David Washington or Daniel Wu would be a great Reed.

 

[Willie Lumpkin]

When I hear, "diversity" I think that they'll get rid of Ben Grimm's Jewish heritage. Ben Grimm can't really be race swapped without becoming a completely different character. Ben Grimm speaks with a New York Jewish accent and often says things in Yiddish. If you make it so his ancestors weren't Eastern European Jews, he's effectively not the same character. Plus he was based on his own creator, Jack Kirby.

The rest I don't really care about. Both Storms have been racebent in the past and I feel like John David Washington or Daniel Wu would be a great Reed.

I’m afraid you’re right and if this happens, I’m going to consider it a slap in Jack Kirby’s face ( and, to a lesser extent, Stan Lee )

… but I’ll wait and see what happens.

If it does happen, I’m not going to hold back on my feelings about it.

 

[Crimz]

When I hear, "diversity" I think that they'll get rid of Ben Grimm's Jewish heritage. Ben Grimm can't really be race swapped without becoming a completely different character. Ben Grimm speaks with a New York Jewish accent and often says things in Yiddish. If you make it so his ancestors weren't Eastern European Jews, he's effectively not the same character. Plus he was based on his own creator, Jack Kirby.

The rest I don't really care about. Both Storms have been racebent in the past and I feel like John David Washington or Daniel Wu would be a great Reed.

Unfortunately, he's the most likely to be changed, Which is a bad choice on two accounts:

The first is as you've said about his Jewish heritage and a lot of the character being based on Kirby. Taking away representation from one minority group to give to another is terrible.

The second is that it would be bad representation to have the only person of color transformed into something else the majority of the time. It's not great diversity to have them be a rock monster.

Reed and the Storm's are the best choice if they're gonna diversify the team. All I hope is that Sue and Johnny be the same race and not adopted siblings like in Fant4stic.

 

[Silvermoth]

When I hear, "diversity" I think that they'll get rid of Ben Grimm's Jewish heritage. Ben Grimm can't really be race swapped without becoming a completely different character. Ben Grimm speaks with a New York Jewish accent and often says things in Yiddish. If you make it so his ancestors weren't Eastern European Jews, he's effectively not the same character. Plus he was based on his own creator, Jack Kirby.

The rest I don't really care about. Both Storms have been racebent in the past and I feel like John David Washington or Daniel Wu would be a great Reed.

I am hoping they have learned a few lessons from the mandarin and the ancient one casting (they’re pretty clever so I’m sure they have). Basically, their original idea was to recast problematic Asian stereotypes with white people which was well meaning but ultimately missed the point (having better Asian rep in movies).

my point is, removing one of the few well known jewish characters might not be as progressive as we would want or hope so I hope they keep his Jewishness. A diverse cast for Reed, Johnny and Sue would be amazing though and I love your Daniel wu suggestion

 

[Dr. Evil]

When I hear, "diversity" I think that they'll get rid of Ben Grimm's Jewish heritage. Ben Grimm can't really be race swapped without becoming a completely different character. Ben Grimm speaks with a New York Jewish accent and often says things in Yiddish. If you make it so his ancestors weren't Eastern European Jews, he's effectively not the same character. Plus he was based on his own creator, Jack Kirby.

The rest I don't really care about. Both Storms have been racebent in the past and I feel like John David Washington or Daniel Wu would be a great Reed.

I think if you wanted to change Ben Grimm's race and yet to him Jewish, a name that has come up for me is Daveed Diggs. His mother is Jewish and his first name means "David" in Hebrew.

However, my top choice is still Seth Rogen.

 

[Stark Bauer]

can we let FOX and everyone else muck up FF, i dont want Marvel Studios to be lumped in with Fox for destroying the FF name. Just do a comic accurate portrayal and keep them the way they looked in the comics. i say this as a person of color. i wouldnt want a black or white person to fill in for shang chi and didnt appreciate the white washing of the ancient one in dr strange.

just give me that and you can mess around with it after you have completed the comic accurate stry arc. i dont even care of they are blonde lol just portray the characters as they were in the comics. not much to ask for. you want a black FF then make your own black or asian team. again i am saying this as a person of color.

i dont appreciate you race baiting and shoe horning us in these roles - if you are going to do so, then do it tastefully - cast me as Darkhawk Kevin Feige, since Chris Powell's race is not linked to that character and next to nobody even remembers what that character even looks like without a mask lol

 

[Crimz]

can we let FOX and everyone else muck up FF, i dont want Marvel Studios to be lumped in with Fox for destroying the FF name. Just do a comic accurate portrayal and keep them the way they looked in the comics. i say this as a person of color. i wouldnt want a black or white person to fill in for shang chi and didnt appreciate the white washing of the ancient one in dr strange.

just give me that and you can mess around with it after you have completed the comic accurate stry arc. i dont even care of they are blonde lol just portray the characters as they were in the comics. not much to ask for. you want a black FF then make your own black or asian team. again i am saying this as a person of color.

i dont appreciate you race baiting and shoe horning us in these roles - if you are going to do so, then do it tastefully - cast me as Darkhawk Kevin Feige, since Chris Powell's race is not linked to that character and next to nobody even remembers what that character even looks like without a mask lol

You've contradicted yourself. If you want them to be "comic accurate" that would mean you'd want the Storms to blonde and nothing else.

I personally don't care if they change Reed, Sue, and Johnny. The comic was created 60 years ago and if Marvel wants to make changes to reflect how diverse things are now then I don't see the problem. For me, the most important aspect is the spirit of the characters and what they represent. That's what should not be changed and it's also what the Fox films failed at. The characters, even when looking the part, didn't embody who the FF are.

 

[GoblinScrier]

Well they have the X-men that they can diversify all they want...leave the F4 alone...why is it so bad to have them look the part AND act the part to bring them to life as comic book accurate as possible? I don't wanna see anything looking different from Marvel's Premier family...as hokey as the 1994 Corman film was, I still hold that to be the definitive version of the characters cinematically...they looked the part and it had heart...hell even Doom looked like Doom, a tad over the top, but he ruled Latveria, had Doom "soldiers" (obviously budget restricted them from being Doombots), etc...but I know that the woke culture will ultimately dictate the F4 and I am sure there will be a LOT of changes that will definitely impact the one film AND villain I have waited for 4ever...and Willie, I am with you my friend, always....

I’m afraid you’re right and if this happens, I’m going to consider it a slap in Jack Kirby’s face ( and, to a lesser extent, Stan Lee )

… but I’ll wait and see what happens.

If it does happen, I’m not going to hold back on my feelings about it.

 

[Dark Raven]

Roger Corman's then Tim Story's FF are going to end up the most faithful adaptations.

 

[Stark Bauer]

You've contradicted yourself. If you want them to be "comic accurate" that would mean you'd want the Storms to blonde and nothing else.

I personally don't care if they change Reed, Sue, and Johnny. The comic was created 60 years ago and if Marvel wants to make changes to reflect how diverse things are now then I don't see the problem. For me, the most important aspect is the spirit of the characters and what they represent. That's what should not be changed and it's also what the Fox films failed at. The characters, even when looking the part, didn't embody who the FF are.

its ok for the fantastic four to be white (that includes latinos).

just as it is ok for superman or batman to be black/pure asian (Superman was portrayed by a half Japanese actor)/etc since those two characters have been done to death.

again i am all for diversity - i am a person of color/non white. you can make the fantastic four any combination of races/genders/species but my god just let Marvel Studios make the best adaptation possible. I know they can do it. Kevin Feige is a master storyteller with a great ability to build a living, interconnected universe. Their casting lady is superb.

 

[metaphysician]

alright, well i always assumed he was kinds Apocalypse-ish or Archangel-like due to what appeared to be blue face

That is a bit of an off analogy, seeing as both Apocalypse and Archangel are *also* human.

 

[thangaran]

As a person of color, I am all for casting diverse, I just want Marvel to choose the best for the roles, whether they’re Asian, South Asian, Black, White or other doesn’t bother me. They should choose based on who gives the best auditions and fits the version of the story they’re telling.

So far Marvel has been doing great on the casting front with the exception of Spidey’s absolutely horrible supporting cast. They are terrible and give Z-grade quality performances that make Saved by the Bell performances Oscar-caliber.

I am more concerned with Watts as a director and having a spidey supporting cast-type group of actors who are annoying, partially due to being given subpar writing material to work with.

 

[Da-Scribe]

My guess is Ben will be the only white guy on the team. I look forward to "purist" meltdowns once casting is announced.

 

[wobbly]

I posted this back in the old thread a couple of years ago so I will just copy & paste it here:

On the casting question...

We've had 10 years of films now where Marvel have been shrewd with the castings of the major/lead roles and for the most part have picked actors who are not far off the looks of the comics. RDJ, Evans, Hemsworth, Hiddleston, Johansson, Olsen, Pratt, Cumberbatch, Holland, Boseman, Larsen...they got a solid record in picking actors who either already look like the comic book character, or can without too much effort.

Now I like to think that this isn't by happy chance but rather because Feige recognises there is value in the comic book iconography, and having the leads for the movies follow that more closely than not is a desirable goal.

And it's worked pretty darn well so far.

So with that said, after we fans have been hoping for years for a reversion, it would be a shame for Marvel to change a tact that has been so popular and successful for a decade and cast against type for the FF.

 

[Detective Conan]

I posted this back in the old thread a couple of years ago so I will just copy & paste it here:

On the casting question...

We've had 10 years of films now where Marvel have been shrewd with the castings of the major/lead roles and for the most part have picked actors who are not far off the looks of the comics. RDJ, Evans, Hemsworth, Hiddleston, Johansson, Olsen, Pratt, Cumberbatch, Holland, Boseman, Larsen...they got a solid record in picking actors who either already look like the comic book character, or can without too much effort.

Now I like to think that this isn't by happy chance but rather because Feige recognises there is value in the comic book iconography, and having the leads for the movies follow that more closely than not is a desirable goal.

And it's worked pretty darn well so far.

So with that said, after we fans have been hoping for years for a reversion, it would be a shame for Marvel to change a tact that has been so popular and successful for a decade and cast against type for the FF.

Respect your opinion 100% but what do you mean by “casting against type”? I presume this is just another word for race-bending but my stance on race-bending is that as long as an actor is right for the role and the role isn’t intrinsically tied to racial representation like Black Panther or Shang-Chi then I’m fine with it. A black or Asian actor can fit the intelligent and distant Reed to a T. Only minus would be they wouldn’t match the clearly white Anglo-Saxon looks of the character. And I get it, you want a fully authentic F4 film visually, but I’d argue the FF are coming to a Marvel post-Black Panther and Marvel likely is at a point in their success that they can likely getaway with changing the races with key iconic characters. Will fans like you be disappointed? Of course, no doubt but I think as long as Marvel makes a good film despite changing things it’ll be successful either way.

And honestly, I just personally think it’s very very unlikely Feige is going to cast an all white team as F4, especially now in the 2020’s. That being said, if Marvel doesn’t change the team at all and keeps them white like they are in the comics good, but I just can’t shake the hunch that Watts(who race-bent the vast majority of Peter’s supporting cast, including the iconic Mary Jane) will most likely go in a diverse route. He probably won’t change everyone, but I’m sorry I just don’t see modern Marvel going with all pasty white people for the team. I guess we’ll wait and see, but I’m not holding my breath on all-white FF.