Before he ever joins a potential Council of Reeds, our former Mr. Fantastic is opening up about the third Fantastic Four movie that never was. Ioan Gruffudd, known for playing Reed Richards in 2005’s Fantastic Four and its sequel Fantastic Four: Rise of the Silver Surfer, has been talking about his time in the blue spandex and looking back at what could’ve been.
Speaking with Vulture, Gruffudd confirmed there was a potential Fantastic Four 3 following the 2007 sequel, but it never came to fruition.
“The mindset was that we were going to do three, and I think the second movie was equally successful as the first and equally enjoyable for the fans. I particularly loved working with Doug Jones [as the Silver Surfer] on that movie, who’s just a terrific artist and an expert in the field of movement. If you want to witness somebody bringing a character to life physically, he’s just untouchable. So there was definitely that sort of momentum, and the plan was to do three movies, but these decisions are beyond my control.”
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Gruffudd recently attended the premiere of Marvel Studios’ The Fantastic Four: First Steps, where he also proclaimed he is still proud of his work as Mr. Fantastic. Could there a potential return for him in the future, given that the comics have set a precedent for an entire multiverse of Reed Richards and the MCU has already featured two versions of the character in First Steps’ Pedro Pascal and Doctor Strange in the Multiverse of Madness’ John Krasinski?
Set against the vibrant backdrop of a 1960s-inspired, retro-futuristic world, Marvel Studios’ “The Fantastic Four: First Steps” introduces Marvel’s First Family—Reed Richards/Mister Fantastic (Pedro Pascal), Sue Storm/Invisible Woman (Vanessa Kirby), Johnny Storm/Human Torch (Joseph Quinn) and Ben Grimm/The Thing (Ebon Moss-Bachrach) 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). And if Galactus’ plan to devour the entire planet and everyone on it weren’t bad enough, it suddenly gets very personal.
The Fantastic Four: First Steps is directed by Matt Shakman (WandaVision) and stars Pedro Pascal, Vanessa Kirby, Joseph Quinn, Ebon Moss-Bachrach, Ralph Ineson, Julia Garner, Paul Walter Hauser, Natasha Lyonne and Sarah Niles.
