The next “Fantastic Four” will be directed by “WandaVision” helmer Matt Shakman with a script from Jeff Kaplan and Ian Springer. The film is currently set for a May 2, 2025 release date from Disney, marking the first MCU-proper introduction of these characters. No other “Fantastic Four” casting has been announced yet.

In addition to his possible MCU debut with “Fantastic Four,” Pascal is set to star in Ridley Scott’s “Gladiator 2” opposite Paul Mescal, the next season of “The Mandalorian,” and “The Last of Us” Season 2, which is anticipated for a 2025 release.

Pascal appeared in Pedro Almodóvar’s queer Western “Strange Way of Life” with Ethan Hawke, which debuted at the Venice Film Festival.

“He really is an actor. He can do comedy and drama. He can do musicals and classical theatre,” Almodóvar said of Pascal’s talent and career. “I feel like people are pigeonholing him. One of my hopes is that, after people see ‘Strange Way of Life,’ a light bulb might go off in people’s heads and they’ll say, ‘He can do more than what we’re employing him to do.’ Not only epic roles! I don’t have anything against epic roles, but he is more well-rounded as an actor than that.”

John Krasinski starred as a multiverse version of Mr. Fantastic in “Doctor Strange in the Multiverse of Madness” in 2022, causing fans to speculate he will be leading the standalone reboot franchise installment. However, that’s not so in this multiverse.

Also speaking of what could have been, “Spider-Man: No Way Home” director Jon Watts stepped away from the “Fantastic Four” project earlier this year to helm “Star Wars” Disney+ series “Skeleton Crew” with Jude Law.

The new “Fantastic Four” movie was announced in 2020 after Disney acquired the characters through its acquisition of 20th Century Fox. The first “Fantastic Four” film was released in 2005, followed by 2007 sequel “The Silver Surfer.” The franchise was rebooted with 2015’s “Fantastic Four,” which was critically panned.

“‘Fantastic Four’ is the foundation for everything that came after in the comics,” MCU head Kevin Feige told Entertainment Weekly. “There’s certainly been versions of it [onscreen], but never inhabiting the storytelling of the MCU. And that’s something that is really exciting for us. People will start to hear more about that soon. We plan on that being a big pillar of the MCU going forward, just the way they’ve been in the comics for 50 or 60 years.”

“Fantastic Four” is part of Marvel’s Phase 6, along with two new “Avengers” films, “Avengers: The Kang Dynasty” and “Avengers: Secret Wars,” with the respective release dates being pushed due to the SAG-AFTRA strike. “Shang-Chi and the Legend of the Ten Rings” director Destin Daniel Cretton is no longer directing “Avengers: The Kang Dynasty” as announced on November 15.