Original Fantastic Four Cast Celebrated by Fans Following Jennifer Lawrence Rumors

Recent Fantastic Four casting rumors have Marvel fans defending the cast of the original live-action movies. In 2005, the first theatrically-released movie based on the superhero team was released, starring Ioan Gruffudd as Reed Richards, Jessica Alba as Sue Storm, Chris Evans as Johnny Storm, and Michael Chiklis as Ben Grimm. The four all reprised their roles in the 2007 sequel Fantastic Four: Rise of the Silver Surfer.

This week, rumors begun to circulate that The Hunger Games star Jennifer Lawrence was in talks to play Sue Storm in the next Fantastic Four movie. Because the screenplay hasn’t yet been written and it will likely take some time before production begins, it seems unlikely that anyone has yet been attached to any of the roles. In any case, the discussion has gotten many Marvel fans to express their admiration for the original live-action adaptation.

RELATED: Fantastic Four Jennifer Lawrence as Sue Storm Rumor Gets Debunked

“They were actually great as the Fantastic 4 but y’all ain’t ready for that conversation,” reads one popular tweet that includes four images of Gruffudd, Alba, Evans, and Chiklis from the original 2005 Fantastic Four. The tweet has been liked nearly 100,000 times in less than 24 hours.

“I’m glad that we can all now agree that these casting were fantastic and these suits were fantastic and the Fantastic Four duology was great,” says another fan, posting a photo of the foursome.

“Oh.. I just want them bc they’re the only ones who can pull off fantastic 4,” a similar tweet reads with another image of the first Fantastic Four.

Posting a GIF from the movie, another fan writes, “the only fantastic 4 I acknowledge.”

With the Jennifer Lawrence rumors sparking the Invisible Woman conversation, other fans are highlighting just how great Jennifer Alba was when she played the role. As one fan on Twitter puts it, “Since Jennifer Lawrence is trending for supposedly having been cast as Sue Storm in the new Fantastic Four, I’d like to remind everyone that Jessica Alba absolutely killed it in this role.”

And another fan says, “jessica alba was so good as sue storm in fantastic 4.”

You won’t be seeing this kind of love for the 2015 incarnation from director Josh Trank. That version featured Miles Teller as Reed Richards, Kate Mara as Sue Storm, Michael B. Jordan as Johnny Storm, and Jamie Bell as Ben Grimm. Unfortunately, the only accolades the movie could really garner were nearly every award at the Razzies with universally negative reviews. Plans for a sequel were scrapped and we haven’t seen another live-action version of Mr. Fantastic and the big screen since.

Marvel head Kevin Feige has confirmed that there are plans to bring the Fantastic Four into the Marvel Cinematic Universe with a new movie. In December, it was announced that Spider-Man: Homecoming director Jon Watts would be directing. Fans have been speculating possible casting choices ever since, with John Krasinski and Emily Blunt leading the pack as the two names people most want to see as the new Mr. Fantastic and Invisible Woman. Time will tell who ultimately gets cast.

Topics: Fantastic Four