Marvel Wants Javier Bardem for Galactus and a Female Silver Surfer
The Fantastic Four cast seems all but assembled. Yesterday came the news that Marvel has either locked or is close to locking Pedro Pascal as Reed Richards, the leader of the Fantastic Four (in the comics; the movie sounds like it may be different). Now, Jeff Sneider has revealed on his website, The InSneider, that not only are his previous scoops – Vanessa Kirby as Sue Storm and Joseph Quinn as Johnny Storm – all but done deals, but Ebon Moss-Bachrach will be playing the Thing. (Sneider previously believed he’d be someone else.) Further, they’re close to casting Galactus, with Javier Bardem the frontrunner, replacing Antonio Banderas (who is still being considered). Sneider also says that Pedro Pascal was chosen because Kevin Feige thought the Four were “too white,” which gels with his desire to cast a Hispanic actor as Galactus. In that vein, Feige is also planning to make the Silver Surfer a woman, according to Sneider, and Sue will be the film’s lead.
In other words, The Marvels is teaching Marvel nothing, or at least very little; apparently, Feige is trying to keep costs low on this one. I don’t mind Pedro Pascal as Reed, and I really like the idea of Javier Bardem as Galactus (more so than Antonio Banderas), but the reasoning behind it is messed up and, I’d think, insulting to these actors. It’s strange to think that someone looked at Fantastic Four, and the first thing that came to mind was Hispanic representation. And this nonsense about making Sue the lead is grating; it’s the Fantastic Four, not Sue Storm and the three stupid boys she has to keep in line before they trip over themselves. Is Marvel somehow completely unaware of how to do a team movie all of a sudden? Weren’t the Avengers flicks some of their biggest moneymakers? And I seem to recall people liking Guardians of the Galaxy a lot. And Silver Surfer is a woman now… why? Because there are too many male heralds of the Devourer of Worlds? They’re doing this for show, not for artistic reasons, and that they’re continuing down this path after The Marvels is infuriating. Fantastic Four is their best chance to right their sinking ship, and they’re intentionally blowing more holes in their hull. Insanity.
