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Fantastic Four star Pedro Pascal recalls the “strange” way he got the Reed Richards role: “It changed the course of my life in a very sudden way”
Marvel Movies
Fantastic Four: release date, cast, director, and everything else we know
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Pedro Pascal found it “really intimidating” taking on the Fantastic Four even after Star Wars and The Last of Us
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Fantastic Four: The First Steps director unveils the movie’s retro-futuristic space suits and practical sets: “I really wanted it to feel like it was made in 1965, the way Stanley Kubrick would have made it”
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Fantastic Four
Spider-Man director reveals why he stepped down from making Marvel movie Fantastic Four: “I knew I didn’t have what it would’ve taken to make that movie great”
Molly Edwards
27 June 2025
Jon Watts was originally on board to direct Fantastic Four
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(Image credit: Disney)
Jon Watts, the director behind the MCU’s Spider-Man trilogy, has revealed why he stepped away from helming The Fantastic Four: First Steps.
“I am out of gas,” he told The Hollywood Reporter of the realization that led to his decision. “The COVID layer on top of making a giant movie layer, I knew I didn’t have what it would’ve taken to make that movie great. I was just out of steam, so I just needed to take some time to recover.
“Everyone at Marvel totally understood,” he continued. “They had been through it with me as well, so they knew how hard and draining that experience has been; in the end, very satisfying, but at some point, if you can’t do it at the level that you feel like you need to for it to be great, then it’s better to not do it.”
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Fantastic Four star Pedro Pascal recalls the “strange” way he got the Reed Richards role: “It changed the course of my life in a very sudden way”
Fantastic Four: release date, cast, director, and everything else we know
Pedro Pascal found it “really intimidating” taking on the Fantastic Four even after Star Wars and The Last of Us
WandaVision’s Matt Shakman took over directing duties instead, and the Marvel Phase 6 film is arriving in just a few weeks on July 25. Watts added that “it’s going to be totally surreal experience for me to go and watch that movie.”
Pedro Pascal stars as Reed Richards, with Vanessa Kirby as Sue Storm, Ebon Moss-Bachrach as Ben Grimm, and Joseph Quinn as Johnny Storm. Ralph Ineson will play big bad Galactus, with Julia Garner as his herald the Silver Surfer.
While you wait for The Fantastic Four: First Steps, check out our guide to all the upcoming Marvel movies and shows or how to watch the Marvel movies in order to get up to speed.
See more Movies News
Marvel Studios
Molly Edwards
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Deputy Entertainment Editor
I’m the Deputy Entertainment Editor here at GamesRadar+, covering all things film and TV for the site’s Total Film and SFX sections. I previously worked on the Disney magazines team at Immediate Media, and also wrote on the CBeebies, MEGA!, and Star Wars Galaxy titles after graduating with a BA in English.
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Fantastic Four star Pedro Pascal recalls the “strange” way he got the Reed Richards role: “It changed the course of my life in a very sudden way”
Fantastic Four: release date, cast, director, and everything else we know
Pedro Pascal found it “really intimidating” taking on the Fantastic Four even after Star Wars and The Last of Us
Fantastic Four co-writer tried to have “a classic Galactus” as the “big bad” in the 2015 Marvel movie, but “internal push back” stopped it
Fantastic Four: The First Steps director unveils the movie’s retro-futuristic space suits and practical sets: “I really wanted it to feel like it was made in 1965, the way Stanley Kubrick would have made it”
Fantastic Four star Pedro Pascal had to go to Robert Downey Jr.’s house for an Avengers “homework day”
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