Fantastic Four director Matt Shakman says Pedro Pascal's Reed Richards will "lead the Avengers", and let's spare a thought for Sam Wilson
Fantastic Four director Matt Shakman has just revealed who will be leading the Avengers in Avengers: Doomsday.
While speaking to Variety on the challenges of casting Reed Richards – a role that ultimately went to Pedro Pascal – Shakman said, "He goes from being the nerdy scientist who's locked away in the lab, to the husband and the father who'd do anything to protect his family, to the guy who's leading the Avengers."
Given Marvel's proclivity for keeping pretty much every story beat and spoiler under wraps, this certainly could be seen as a slip of the tongue on Shakman's part.
Right now, all we know about the makeup of the Avengers comes from the tease found at the end of the Thunderbolts post-credits scene.
There, the newly-christened 'New Avengers' (Red Guardian, Bucky Barnes, Yelena, Bob/Sentry, Ghost, and John Walker) are in a legal battle with Sam Wilson's Avengers over the rights to the name. They're also monitoring interstellar activity, which is when Fantastic Four's ship arrives on the scene (though Marvel boss Kevin Feige's comments about what it may or may not be have only muddied the waters).
Now, it appears Mr. Fantastic will be leading the way for Earth's Mightiest Heroes as they remain on track for a showdown with Robert Downey Jr.'s Doctor Doom.
Speaking to GamesRadar+, Shakman also let us in on another sliver of story information – Galactus will be on a "collision course" with Reed and Sue's child, Franklin.
"What was so charming about this movie is it's about the tiniest, youngest thing in the world and the oldest, biggest thing in the universe," Shakman teased.
Fantastic Four, starring Pedro Pascal, Vanessa Kirby, Joseph Quinn, and Ebon Moss-Bachrach hits cinemas on July 25.
For more on the Marvel Phase 6 opener and future MCU projects, check out our complete guide to upcoming Marvel movies.
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King Of The Hill Struggled To Figure Out What To Do About Bobby's Voice In The Revival
When you buy through links on our articles, Future and its syndication partners may earn a commission. New episodes of King of the Hill are set to premiere as part of the 2025 TV schedule years after the series originally ended in 2009. Needless to say, a lot has changed since then. Hank and Peggy will have to adapt to new elements in Arlen, Texas after spending a good deal of time overseas. Some things, however, have not changed, including the now-adult Bobby's voice. CinemaBlend actually spoke to his voice actress and the series' showrunner, who shed light on that creative decision. I had the honor of speaking to the creators and cast of King of the Hill during San Diego Comic-Con 2025. During, the chat, I specifically asked Pamela Adlon if she'd given any thought to changing Bobby's voice for the revival. The actress said the decision was more up to Mike Judge, Greg Daniels and showrunner Saladin Patterson but that there had been a lot of discussions by the time she was officially tapped to reprise her role: I was like, 'OK, what are we doing?' I did all my research. Adults whose voices never changed? I googled it. I'm grateful to be doing it, but you don't want Bobby to fall in between somebody who sounds very young and a middle-aged lady. King of the Hill isn't the first series to have this unique situation, and it's actually something that's come up quite a bit in the anime genre. Dragon Ball hero Goku has been voiced by a woman, Masako Nozawa, since he was introduced back in the 1980s. While Americans are used to Goku having a distinct child and adult voice, it's not an issue at all for Japanese fans that the character is currently voiced by an 88-year-old woman. Normally, I wouldn't compare the two, but it feels apt, given the context of how Americans see King of the Hill. Showrunner Saladin Patterson told me that the reason we'll ultimately hear Bobby with the exact same voice when viewers stream the revival using a Hulu subscription is that he decided that is what the fans would want: Greg and I had a conversation about what the fans are gonna really wanna see when they revisit this. We personally like hearing Pam just do Bobby, you know, not trying to change it, not trying to pitch it up, whatever, you know, we, we feel that that's going to be most comfortable for people to hear that voice they recognize and it's Pam. I mean it's magical, right? So you know why, why tweak the magic? The fact that Bobby Hill's voice is the exact same may be a comfort to some, especially since King of the Hill was forced to make some. Said creative moves were partially due to the death of Dale voice actor Johnny Hardwick. Toby Huss has taken over playing the character, and his former role as voice of Kahn Souphanousinphone will be played by Ronny Chieng. It's an adjustment that won't go unnoticed but, ultimately, the spirits of both characters are still alive. More On King Of The Hill King Of The Hill Star Talks Replacing 'One Of A Kind' Johnny Hardwick As Dale Gribble, And I Love Mike Judge For Revealing How Much Of The Late Actor We'll Hear I think it would be much harder to cope with a voice as iconic as Bobby Hill suddenly being changed to a more gruff tone. For me, it would've been disturbing to hear him sounding any other way, and I think the familiarity helps with some of the other changes with the character we see in the revival. With all that said, change is a big theme of King Of The Hill's latest season, as Hank and Peggy get reacquainted with American life after living on an idyllic American base in Saudi Arabia. As someone who zoomed through the eight episodes pretty quickly, I'm already hungry for more seasons, and happy that Hank and Peggy are back in Arlen -- that they reunite with a son who still sounds like he always has. Disney Plus + Hulu Bundle: From $10.99 A MonthKing of the Hill's Hank Hill is practical, and even he could probably see the value in subscribing to both Disney Plus and Hulu for $10.99 a month. Not only that, but there's also choice to pay more ($19.99 a month) to go Deal Watch all new episodes of King of the Hill when they drop on Hulu on August 4th. I'm hoping the series gets enough attention to score a quick renewal.
