Popverse's top stories of the day

• How Disney+'s What If...? is the moonshot for the next 50 years of Marvel Studios & the MCU
• Watch: Dune: Prophecy's Desmond Hart explained: His secret identity, his past, and his possible future [SPOILERS]
• Dune: Prophecy's Desmond Hart explained: His secret identity, his past, and his possible future [SPOILERS]

The battle between FilmBros and Marvel stans is over - or at least, a hostage has been taken. According to The Hollywood Reporter, serious-cinema favorite John Malkovich has been cast in The Fantastic Four.

The news is the latest in a rash of cast announcements from the film, starting with the core cast having been announced on Valentine's Day. As we reported, the film will feature Pedro Pascal as Mr. Fantastic, Vanessa Kirby as The Invisible Woman, Ebon Moss-Bachrach as The Thing, and Joseph Quinn as Johnny Storm, The Human Torch. Then, Deadline announced that Julia Garner will portray the Silver Surfer and, later, The Hollywood Reporter told us Paul Walter Hauser will join the film in an unspecified role.

Unfortunately, the character Malkovich is playing is also unspecified in the announcement. I guess we'll just have to speculate whether we'll get a rendition of Being John Galactu-vich? Doom-gerous Liaisons? Of Mice and (Mole) Men? Hopefully we find out soon - otherwise I'll keep going.

Fantastic Four hits theaters July 25, 2025.

Consider this a meta post-credits scene for Marvel fans - the four key articles you need to read next to continue the thrills:

• How to watch the Marvel Cinematic Universe in release or chronological order
• The best Marvel Comics stories of all time
• All the MCU movies ranked from best to worst
• Our weekly Marvel insider's column, Marvel Matters