‘The Fantastic Four’ Could Be the Fresh Start Marvel Needs, From an Epic Cast to a (Possible) 1960s Setting

variety.com:

Adam B. Vary Senior Entertainment Writer Christopher Nolan recently proclaimed that the decision to hire Robert Downey Jr. to play Tony Stark in “Iron Man” was “one of the most consequential casting decisions that’s ever been made in the history of the movie business.” By the end of this decade, the same might be said for the four actors who were just cast as the titular superheroes in Marvel’s “The Fantastic Four”: Pedro Pascal, Vanessa Kirby, Joseph Quinn and Ebon Moss-Bachrach.

Like Downey, all of these actors have had recent experiences with big-budget productions — Pascal with “The Mandalorian” and “The Last of Us,” Kirby with the two most recent “Mission: Impossible” films, Quinn with “Stranger Things” and Moss-Bachrach with “Andor.” But, also like Downey, none of them have headlined their own studio action blockbuster before signing up with Marvel.

Downey, of course, proved to be such an electrifying presence as Iron Man that he propelled the Marvel Cinematic Universe for the next 11 years, appearing in 10 movies that have collectively earned $12.5 billion in global box office grosses before Stark died in 2019’s “Avengers: Endgame.” Since then, Downey’s absence has been acutely felt by Marvel fans, as has the loss of Chris Evans’ Captain America, who also took his (possibly) final bow in “Endgame.” Those two characters served as the yin and yang for the early MCU — Stark the brash, rakish genius; Cap the stalwart, aw shucks warrior — that became the franchise’s gravitational center.

With the Guardians of the Galaxy breaking up, Tom Holland’s Spider-Man and Chris Hemsworth’s Thor taking sabbaticals, and the deaths of Scarlett Johansson’s Black Widow and, tragically, Chadwick Boseman’s Black Panther, Marvel has.