Lucifer star Tom Ellis was one of the strongest contenders for the role of Reed Richards before Pedro Pascal got the part. In an interview, the actor revealed how he got close to starring in the MCU's The Fantastic Four: First Steps, which was released last July, but things didn't work out in the end.
"There was a select group of people that got asked to tape for Reed Richards," he said in a recent issue of Square Mile published earlier this year. "I had been waiting for the right thing, timing-wise and character-wise, to come along. And I remember looking at the photo of Richards in the comics and going, 'this could be the one.' We look quite similar."
Despite their striking similarities and being one of the few actors that got to send an audition tape, Ellis lost the part of Mr. Fantastic to Pascal. "I mean to be fair, he's not in much," joked Ellis, adding: "He's great though."
The actor has a point – Pedro Pascal has become one of the busiest actors in Hollywood, with movies released in the past twelve months including Fantastic Four, Materialists, Eddington, The Wild Robot, and Gladiator 2, as well as The Last of Us season 2. He is also set to star in the upcoming Avengers: Doomsday and The Mandalorian & Grogu, potentially two of the highest grossing movies in 2026.
Ellis was recently part of the star-studded cast of Netflix's crime mystery The Thursday Murder Club, alongside Helen Mirren and Pierce Brosnan. He's also starred in two recent Hulu shows, Washington Black and Tell Me Lies.
He is best known, however, for playing the titular role in Lucifer, which premiered on Fox in 2016 and ran for three seasons before being axed and subsequently rescued by Netflix. Based on the characters from DC's comic book series The Sandman, the show follows the devil as he swaps punishing souls in hell for detective work in LA. After becoming an unlikely consultant to the LAPD, he uses his ability to manipulate people into revealing their deepest desires to help Detective Chloe Decker (played by Lauren German) to solve crimes in the city.
For more, check out our list of the best new TV shows coming in 2025, and see when you can enjoy Pascal's Reed Richards again in our list of all the upcoming Marvel movies and TV shows.
