Forget it, Jake. It’s the internet. So take this news with caution, but according to various outlets and scoopers online, the offer has been made to an actor for the part of Doctor Doom. As usual, due to the current “fluid” nature of things online we have to give this one of these:
According to the guys at Giant Freakin Robot, before the SAG-AFTRA strike began an offer was officially made to Josh Hartnett for the role of Marvel’s Doctor Doom. A tiny sliver of further detail, the character will be introduced in the upcoming movie, but in a relatively small role that prepares the way for his future in the MCU. So it appears he won’t be the main antagonist.
As everyone knows, Doom is the monarch of the fictional nation of Latveria, former friend of Reed Richards, and now archenemy of the Fantastic Four. He has also come into conflict with other superheroes in the Marvel Universe, including Spider-Man, Iron Man, Doctor Strange, Black Panther, the X-Men, and the Avengers at times. He has also been portrayed as an antihero, working with the heroes if their goals align and only if it benefits him.
So, according to these rumors, Doom will appear much like Thanos in multiple films before 2018’s Avengers: Infinity War, or Kang the Conqueror in Loki before Ant-Man & The Wasp: Quantumania. Marvel has form for this approach, at least.
Josh Hartnett is undergoing a big career boost. After a big early career including starring roles in Black Hawk Down, Pearl Harbor, and 30 Days Of Night, he seemed to step back from the limelight. He turned up again in Penny Dreadful on television. A comedic role as Danny on Operation Fortune was followed by casting against type and a well-received performance in Oppenheimer as physicist and Nobel Prize winner Ernest Lawrence.
He is rumored to be joining other speculated actors in the cast such as Daveed Diggs (Hamilton) as Ben Grimm aka, The Thing. Vanessa Kirby (Mission: Impossible) has long been linked with Sue Storm, while Adam Driver’s name has fallen away from much of the commentary, to be replaced with Matt Smith (Doctor Who, House Of The Dragon) as the favorite for Reed Richards.
Fantastic Four still has a release date of May 2, 2025, but with WGA and SAG-AFTRA strikes ongoing with no end apparent, this is likely to move.
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