On the speculative casting report front, it has been a hectic week.
For a little while now, actor Adam Driver has been rumored to be up for the role of Dr. Reed Richards in the Marvel Studios “Fantastic 4” movie. Those reports gained fire this week as two scoopers suggest this is more than a pipe dream.
It began with notable insider Daniel RPK revealing on his Patreon channel that Driver was in final talks to play the famed scientist leader of the group – a role Ioan Gruffudd and Miles Teller played in the previous films.
Now, The Hot Mic’s Jeff Sneider has weighed in and says he can confirm “Driver does have the offer” and that the role was essentially his to accept of reject:
“I think it was five months ago, he was the very first name that we, or potentially anybody seriously anyway, had connected to Fantastic Four. I’d heard that he had … gone in for Reed. I mentioned Doctor Doom as well, but he already basically played Doctor Doom in Star Wars.”
To date, the only other casting speculation for the new “Fantastic 4” in recent months has been of “Elvis” star Austin Butler for the role of Johnny Storm/The Human Torch, but that has been more dubious than the Driver talk.
Meanwhile The Hot Mic Podcast host John Rocha revealed on the same episode that he’s heard from various sources that John Boyega has smoothed over his issues with the “Star Wars” franchise in the past and could be returning to that world to be in the new movie with Daisy Ridley.
Subsequently Sneider posted a tweet saying: “My own STAR WARS sources, who have obviously been pretty spot-on, have not told me that, nor did I say they did. Just putting that out there, no shade.”
The new film will reportedly see Rey try and honor her commitment to Luke Skywalker by rebuilding the Jedi Order.
