Marvel’s Fantastic Four Cast Brings Back An MCU Veteran 7 Years After His Last Appearance

Marvel recently announced the cast for the MCU’s Fantastic Four, and the studio brought back an actor who starred in another MCU project seven years ago. The Fantastic Four’s MCU entry has been highly anticipated for many years, and while the film was announced several years ago, Marvel remained silent on who would be its stars. However, that changed recently as Marvel announced on Valentine’s Day that the Fantastic Four cast would be Pedro Pascal as Reed Richards, Vanessa Kirby as Sue Storm, Joseph Quinn as Johnny Storm, and Ebon Moss-Bachrach as Ben Grimm.

While Pascal, Kirby, and Quinn are all MCU newcomers, Moss-Bachrach has prior Marvel experience. The Bear actor appeared in a series from Netflix’s Marvel Universe, which included characters such as Daredevil, Luke Cage, Jessica Jones, Iron Fist, and The Punisher. Moss-Bachrach played a key role in one of these shows, but he isn’t the only actor with two separate roles in the MCU.

Ebon Moss-Bachrach Already Joined Marvel In The Punisher

Ebon Moss Bachrach Previously Played David Lieberman

Ebon Moss-Bachrach is most recognized for his role in The Bear, but Marvel viewers may know him from his role in The Punisher Season 1. Moss-Bachrach starred as David Lieberman, a.k.a. Micro, an expert hacker and member of the Rising Tide. Micro faked his death to hide from the authorities looking to kill him. He recruits Frank Castle after discovering they have mutual enemies, as the same people chasing David also betrayed Frank and killed his family. The pair eventually kill all of them, with Frank getting his vengeance and Micro returning to his family.

Moss-Bachrach only appeared in season 1 of The Punisher, but his character was mentioned in an episode of Agents of S.H.I.E.L.D. and an episode of Daredevil. While this is his second outing in the MCU, he may not be recognizable for very long as he will eventually turn into The Thing in The Fantastic Four. Still, he isn’t the only person from Netflix’s Defenders universe who joined or will join the main MCU.

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Other Defenders Saga Actors Who Have Played Another Role In The MCU

Two Other Defenders Actors Play Other MCU Roles

In addition to Moss-Bachrach, Mahershala Ali and Alfre Woodard are two actors who played pivotal roles in Netflix’s Marvel Universe and later joined the main MCU. Both actors played antagonists in Luke Cage. Ali starred as Cornell Stokes, a.k.a. Cottonmouth, the leader of the Stokes crime family in Harlem. His empire came crumbling down at the hands of Cage, but it was Woodard’s Mariah Dillard, who murdered him and took over his empire. Dillard was a central antagonist for season 1 and season 2 of Luke Cage.

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While Ali’s time in Luke Cage was cut short, he will have a main role in the MCU’s future. He is playing Blade and is set to star as the vampire hunter in the 2025 movie. While he hasn’t debuted as the character on screen yet, he did have a small vocal cameo in a post-credits scene in Eternals. Woodard had a smaller but still important role in the MCU. She portrayed the mother who confronts Tony Stark next to an elevator in Captain America: Civil War. Her role is small, but her words have a lasting effect on Tony that leads to his conflict with Captain America.

Watch Luke Cage On Disney+

Actors in the Defenders Saga are far from the only actors within the MCU to play multiple roles. In most cases, the actors play one role on a streaming series and another in a movie, or the actors voice a character for one role and play a live-action role for another. It can also be the case that makeup or prosthetics mean the actor isn’t recognizable when playing multiple roles. As a result, there have been many actors to play multiple roles in the MCU, just as Woodard, Ali, and Moss-Bachrach do.

How Ebon Moss-Bachrach’s Past Roles Could Inform His Take On Ben Grimm

Ebon Moss-Bachrach Also Appears In The Bear And Andor

Moss-Bachrach recently won the Emmy for Outstanding Supporting Actor in a Comedy Series for his role as Richie a.k.a. “Cousin” in The Bear. The role demonstrates an ability to play rough, raw characters who have tough exteriors but likable personalities. Ben Grimm has many similar traits to Richie, as he also has a hard exterior (literally) as well as a comedic and sometimes extroverted personality with people he trusts.

Additionally, Moss-Bachrach demonstrated this trait in The Punisher and Andor. Micro is a reserved character who opens up more to Frank as he becomes more trusting towards him. In Andor, he played Arvel Skeen, a dishonorable member of the rebellion group on Aldhani. While he has the same rough-around-the-edges personality as his other characters, there is no redemption for this Star Wars anti-hero, and he is ultimately killed. Moss-Bachrach is best known for his role in The Bear, and it’s the one that demonstrates he is perfectly cast for The Thing in The Fantastic Four.

Marvel’s Fantastic Four

Marvel’s Fantastic Four is the first MCU movie to feature Marvel’s First Family in the same live-action universe as the Avengers. It introduces the Marvel Cinematic Universe’s version of Reed Richards, Sue Storm, Ben Grimm, and Johnny Storm, and precedes Phase 6’s Avengers: The Kang Dynasty and Avengers: Secret Wars.

Release Date

July 25, 2025

Cast

Pedro Pascal , Vanessa Kirby , Ebon Moss-Bachrach , Joseph Quinn

Director

Matt Shakman

Writers

Josh Friedman , Jeff Kaplan , Ian Springer