Natasha Lyonne Dolls Up For Marvel Studios’s 'The Fantastic Four'
Natasha Lyonne Dolls Up For Marvel Studios’s 'The Fantastic Four'
The movie did seem to be lacking some smoky quartz…
Guess it makes sense that in two weeks, Marvel Studios has let the news get out for four castings for their upcoming The Fantastic Four movie. The latest? Natasha Lyonne.
Lyonne has been acting since childhood, with her first role being on Pee-Wee’s Playhouse, later playing teenage babysitter Polly in Dennis the Menace but would later become known for roles in But I’m A Cheerleader! and the American Pie movies. Heck, this isn’t even her first Marvel rodeo, starring in Blade: Trinity, which would also feature future Deadpool Ryan Reynolds and future Koenig brothers Patton Oswalt in their first Marvel roles. However, it was her first series regular television role as Nicky Nichols on Netflix’s Orange is the New Black that would bring her the mainstream success to keep her in the public eye, leading to even more acclaim for her leading subsequent streaming series Russian Doll and Poker Face. She currently stars and executive produces on Prime Video’s The Second Best Hospital in the Galaxy.
She follows Ralph Ineson, John Malkovich, and Paul Walter Hauser into the Marvel Cinematic Universe, which brings the comics company’s first family into the film continuity running 16 years and counting. Considered Marvel’s first family, the Fantastic Four, along with their allies and rogues, had their rights held by 20th Century Fox for about 15 years until Disney bought Fox and the film had been in the works in the 5 years since. Now in the main roles are Pedro Pascal as Reed Richards (aka Mr. Fantastic), Vanessa Kirby as Sue Storm (aka the Invisible Woman), Joseph Quinn as Johnny Storm (aka the Human Torch) and Ebon Moss-Bachrach as Ben Grimm (aka the Thing), who were finally announced in February after years of speculative fancasting. Julia Garner had been cast in April as Shalla-Bal, a Silver Surfer. Of the four May castings, only Ineson as big bad planet-eating Galactus.
About his role, Hauser has said as much as he can, including "So I can't say anything about the character I'm playing but know that it is in the sort of lexicon and mythology of The Fantastic Four stories. And it's a very distinct character that I'm excited to play, and I'm kind of mapping out what I'm doing with that right now." This has led some to believe it’s Mole Man, while speculation surrounding Lyonne has already led it to be narrowed down to Alicia Masters or lending her distinct voice to H.E.R.B.I.E., the robot who appears in the team reveal artwork. The character originated from the The New Fantastic Four animated series to sub in for the Human Torch, who was unable to be used due to rights issues, before their comics debut.
The Fantastic Four is directed by WandaVision creator Matt Shakman from a script by Josh Friedman, Jeff Kaplan, Eric Pearson and Ian Springer. The film is set to be released on July 25, 2025.
Source: Deadline