Washington [US], April 13: Actor Pedro Pascal has opened up about stepping into the iconic role of Reed Richards/Mister Fantastic in Marvel’s highly anticipated film The Fantastic Four: First Steps, calling the experience “really intimidating.”
In a conversation with Deadline, Pascal compared the pressure of the Marvel project to his previous work in major franchises like Game of Thrones, Narcos, and The Last of Us.
“Each time I’ve felt like I couldn’t top how intimidating the last one was,” he said. “They’re all scary because you really want to make people happy, especially if it’s something that’s widely known with particular expectations around it.”
Despite the challenge, Pascal emphasized the importance of authenticity:
“You also want to be authentic to yourself so that it can be the best that it can be for anybody who wants to be entertained by a story and travel with us into this world.”
Co-star Joseph Quinn, who plays Johnny Storm (Human Torch), shared insights on the modern reinterpretation of his character.
“He was branded as this womanizing, devil-may-care guy, but is that sexy these days? I don’t think so,” Quinn said. “This version of Johnny is less callous with other people’s feelings, and hopefully there’s a self-awareness about what’s driving that attention-seeking behaviour.”
The ensemble cast also includes Vanessa Kirby, Ebon Moss-Bachrach, Julia Garner, John Malkovich, Natasha Lyonne, Paul Walter Hauser, and Ralph Ineson.
The Fantastic Four: First Steps is expected to bring a fresh and emotionally rich take on Marvel’s first family as it prepares to launch the heroes into the Marvel Cinematic Universe’s next phase.