After playing a villain in Jessica Jones, David Tennant had his eyes on playing a superhero if he entered the MCU.
What MCU role did David Tennant want to play?
In Netflix’s Jessica Jones, Tennant starred as Kevin Thompson/Kilgrave, a man with the ability to control minds. Kilgrave caused Jessica to kill someone, which led her to abandon her superhero career to work as a private detective.
While speaking at MCM Comic Con in London, a fan asked Tennant about his preference for playing a supervillain or superhero. Tennant noted that he “got the best one” by playing Kilgrave, which “worked out quite nicely.”
If Tennant switched sides and played the good guy, he wanted to join Marvel’s First Family.
“In terms of superheroes, I did slightly have my eye on Reed Richards,” Tennant said.
Unfortunately, Marvel went in a “different direction” and cast Pedro Pascal to play Richards in The Fantastic Four: First Steps.
“If it has to be someone, I’m very happy for it to be Pedro Pascal, frankly,” Tennant explained. However, he still “would’ve liked to be Reed Richards.”
“I’d quite like to be able to do all that,” Tennant said. “Even though it’s going to be a while before there’s another go at that, unfortunately.”
Pascal and the rest of the Fantastic Four will be integral members of the MCU’s future. Tennant’s instincts are right when he says it will be a long time before another actor plays Reed Richards.
The Multiverse Saga showed that Marvel allows multiple actors to play the same character. For example, John Krasinski played Reed Richards in Doctor Strange in the Multiverse of Madness. All three Spider-Men — Tom Holland, Andrew Garfield, and Tobey Maguire — played their version of Peter Parker in Spider-Man: No Way Home. Could Tennant play a different version of Reed Richards? It’s possible, but unlikely.
For now, Tennant is happy for Pascal to get a crack at the character.
“He’s Mister Fantastic, in every sense of the word,” Tennant explained. “I think Pedro Pascal is great. I’m very, very pleased that he exists.”
The Fantastic Four: First Steps opens in theaters on July 25, 2025.
