Matthew Wood Revealed As Voice Of H.E.R.B.I.E. In 'The Fantastic Four: First Steps'
It sounds like they finally coughed up the voice of Marvel’s First Family’s robot friend
Valentine’s Day 2024 saw the reveal of the main cast of The Fantastic Four: First Steps, and that it wouldn’t be the Marvel Studios film in theaters right now. Pedro Pascal as Reed Richards/Mister Fantastic, Vanessa Kirby as Sue Storm/Invisible Woman, Joseph Quinn as Johnny Storm/Human Torch, and Ebon Moss-Bachrach as Ben Grimm/The Thing. However the illustration the announcement came with revealed the presence of H.E.R.B.I.E., the robot companion introduced in the The New Fantastic Four cartoon as a replacement for Johnny. In the months after, more casting would be revealed. Ralph Ineson as Galactus, Julia Garner as Shalla-Bal, his Silver Surfer herald. John Malkovich, Paul Walter Hauser, Natasha Lyonne, and Sarah Niles were all announced too. But not a voice for H.E.R.B.I.E. That changed Tuesday, when director Matt Shakman revealed it was Matthew Wood in a new interview with Empire Magazine.
Wood in addition to being a voice actor is a sound editor best known in both regards for his work at Lucasfilm and Skywalker Sound, best conveyed through Star Wars. He’s best known as the voice of General Grievous, taking on the role in most capacities starting with Revenge of the Sith. His most notable role prior was Bib Fortuna. He would subsequently reprise both roles when they would appear going forward, and voice various aliens and droids in franchise projects. H.E.R.B.I.E. isn’t even Wood’s first voice role in the Marvel Cinematic Universe, voicing Quantumnauts in Ant-Man and the Wasp: Quantumania. His sound editing work has earned him Oscar nominations for the sequel trilogy, as well as There Will Be Blood and WALL-E. Wood also worked on remastering the original trilogy for its Blu-ray release.
'The Fantastic Four: First Steps' Official Trailer Surfs And Stretches Out Of CinemaCon
Guess it was pretty obvious from the description of the CinemaCon footage that what the exhibitors were seeing of Marvel Studios’s The Fantastic Four: First Steps would be the official trailer from all the different described scenarios that had to flow somehow. And now the studio has made that trailer public, releasing it two weeks later. The film stars…
Shakman chose to focus on H.E.R.B.I.E.’s role and presence in the film, treating the character’s importance rather than dwelling on the performance, at least for now. “He’s absolutely as important and as alive as any other member of the cast,” the director said. “He’s sometimes a slightly put-upon robot, but he is definitely a member of the family. He’s just so charming and adorable.” He then described H.E.R.B.I.E. as “Reed’s right hand in the lab, capable of assisting him on any sort of experiment, always by his side whether in New York City or out in space.” A new image shows him building the crib for Reed and Sue’s upcoming arrival.
SFX supervisor Alistair Williams tells “We’ve had him driving around the set, cleaning, picking up toys, serving Martinis…” “He’s charming, he’s funny — but he also will break your heart,” Shakman added. “Which I hope is emblematic of the movie.” The Fantastic Four: First Steps opens the sixth phase of the MCU when it’s released on July 25, 2025.
Steven Yeun, Voice Of First Avatar Wan, Joins Older Gaang 'Avatar' Film
There’s like, no way they’ve forgotten, right? Steven Yeun, who voiced the original Avatar Wan in the Avatar: The Last Airbender sequel series The Legend of Korra, has joined the franchise’s upcoming animated film from Paramount Pictures and Nickelodeon Movies
Source: Empire via Deadline