#John David Washington on Playing Reed Richards in the MCU: Where Do I Sign?

Tenet star John David Washington is keeping himself open for a superhero role in the MCU or the DCEU, but if the role of Mister Fantastic in a Fantastic Four reboot is ever offered, Washington has made it clear that he’d be interested. As of now, Washington has yet to take on a role in a comic book movie, but after his acclaimed performances in movies like Tenet and BlackKklansman, it’s probably just a matter of time before the studios come knocking to give him the opportunity.

Speaking about what’s next for Washington in an interview with Nerd Reactor, the actor was asked about which superhero or supervillain he’d be up for playing in a comic book movie. Here’s what he had to say in response.
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“I mean, there’s so many. I think it depends on who’s asking, what director wants to do it with me. We’ll see. I want to stay open. I don’t want to box myself in. Maybe there’s characters that haven’t been mentioned yet, or have never been developed or introduced in any of the films yet.”

Earlier this year, there were rumors that Washington was in consideration to play Reed Richards — also known as Mister Fantastic — when the Fantastic Four are finally introduced into the MCU. Referring to a new Fantastic Four movie reboot, Washington was directly asked how he would respond if Kevin Feige personally offered him the lead role of Reed Richards. Here’s how Washington responded.

“I’d say, ‘Well, thank you for having me, thank you for taking this meeting. Where do I sign?'”

Created by Jack Kirby and Stan Lee, the Fantastic Four first began appearing in comic books in 1961. The team consists of Mister Fantastic, who has the ability to stretch and distort his body; the Invisible Woman, who can turn invisible at will; the Human Torch, a man with the ability to generate flames; and the Thing, a rocky superhero with superhuman strength and stone-like flesh.

In the 1990s, Roger Corman produced a Fantastic Four movie with Alex Hyde-White as Reed Richards, though the movie was never officially released to the public. The superhero team would eventually hit the big screen when director Tim Story released his own Fantastic Four movie in theaters in 2005, this time featuring Ioan Gruffudd as Mister Fantastic. He’d reprise the role for a 2007 sequel. The Mister Fantastic character was also featured in Josh Trank’s Fantastic Four reboot in 2015 with Miles Teller in the role.

Because none of the previous Fantastic Four movies were set in the same universe, Reed Richards and the rest of the superhero team have yet to officially appear in the MCU. Last year, Marvel head Kevin Feige announced that a new Fantastic Four movie set in the MCU was in development, but there have been no major updates on its progress since.

In any case, you can currently catch Washington starring alongside The Batman star Robert Pattinson in Tenet, now playing in select theaters. Washington’s words come to us from Nerd Reactor on YouTube.

Topics: Fantastic Four