Is it really a multi-million dollar franchise worth talking about anymore if Pedro Pascal's name doesn't appear somewhere in it? After turning heads by getting his popped in Game of Thrones, then being television's action hero dad in both The Mandalorian and The Last of Us, he's now set to stretch into the role of Reed Richards, aka Mister Fantastic, in The Fantastic Four: First Steps. You'd think by this point, he's happy playing hero, but as revealed in an interview with Entertainment Weekly, the pressure of taking on such an iconic part still comes with some stress on getting things just right.
"It was really intimidating," explained Pascal, taking on the character that leads his wife, brother-in-law, and best friend on a dangerous space mission, only to come out with all of them being a little different than they were going in. "Stepping into something like Game of Thrones and then going into the early days of Netflix with Narcos and then Star Wars and the world of video games with The Last of Us, each time I've felt like I couldn't top how intimidating the last one was."
The difference between the role of Richards and the other characters he's brought to life just lately is that the history of these heroes on screen hasn't been very fantastic. There have been two notable iterations putting the Fantastic Four on the big screen, with the latest led by Miles Teller and ending up a box office bomb. Thankfully, now with the First Family becoming a part of the MCU and, as a result, Avengers: Doomsday, it shouldn't be so bad.
That's easier said than done, of course, and Pascal is determined to make sure his take on the character is a good one, just like the iconic roles he's taken on with Joel Miller in The Last of Us (which returns this weekend for its second season) as well as The Mandalorian. "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 because you want those expectations to be met. 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."
We'll wander into this world when The Fantastic Four: First Steps opens in theaters on July 25. Also, be sure to head here to see every other upcoming MCU movie and show that's on the way.
