Oppenheimer actor David Krumholtz has revealed he met with The Fantastic Four director Matt Shakman about playing The Thing in the upcoming superhero movie but is now aiming for another Marvel role.
Marvel Studios announced the cast of The Fantastic Four on February 14, with Ebon Moss-Bachrach unveiled as the MCU's Ben Grimm/The Thing. It was a role that Krumholtz says he "begged" for after catching the attention of Shakman with an online campaign that he started, positioning himself as the rock-solid superhero.
"It's been a big, sort of unabashedly craven goal of mine to be part of the MCU in some way. I met [director] Matt Shakman for Ben Grimm," Krumholtz told Entertainment Weekly. "I only met him on the strength of a Twitter post or an Instagram post that I then took down two hours after I posted it. I was embarrassed. My post said, 'I just want to be in the conversation.' And it was a picture of The Thing, and Matt saw it somehow. And I had a meeting with him, and we discussed it.
"I've never been so bold in a meeting before," he admitted. "Just begging for the role, just straight up selling the s**t out of it, the idea of how committed and passionate I was for it. But obviously, that didn't happen."
Krumholtz has no hard feelings about losing out on the role to Moss-Bachrach because, as a self-confessed Marvel comics fan, he can see it is a "really great" casting choice and "makes way more sense." However, he has now set his sights on a different character and is campaigning to play Fantastic Four villain Mole Man.
Welp. There’s always this guy… @MarvelStudios @Marvel #IYKYK pic.twitter.com/mgIiH0LrRs
— David Krumholtz (@Davidkrumholtzy) February 14, 2024
"It's not a joke at all," Krumholtz says of his recent social media post. "I mean, it's a shoe-in for Mole Man, isn't it? But I don't know. I'll do anything Marvel tells me to. I'll probably end up playing like a superhero's therapist. Let's face it. There's slim pickings for guys like me in that world, unfortunately. I'm old, and I'm not in any kind of acceptable shape. So we'll see how that works out, if it works out at all."
Harvey Elder, aka the Mole Man, isn't just one of the Fantastic Four's most recurring villains; he is also their first, making his debut in the landmark Fantastic Four #1 comic issue by Stan Lee and Jack Kirby. He is just one of many colorful rogues that could show up to confront Marvel's First Family in Shakman's upcoming film.
Doctor Doom is also a top contender, as the sovereign monarch of Latveria has been one of the Marvel Universe's most dangerous and prolific villains since his debut in 1962. Ben Mendelsohn said he would "give his eyes and teeth" to play the part, but there could also be an argument for a voice actor to take on the role.
Only time will tell, and there is plenty of time ahead for MCU fans as The Fantastic Four is not due in theaters until July 25, 2025. That means we have three MCU movies — Deadpool and Wolverine, Captain America: Brave New World, and Thunderbolts — to watch before that date arrives, along with a few Disney+ shows.
Image credit: Photo by Jeff Kravitz/FilmMagic
Adele Ankers-Range is a freelance entertainment writer for IGN. You can follow her on X/Twitter @AdeleAnkers.
