As a new incarnation of Marvel’s first family heads to theaters, Ioan Gruffudd is looking back on his short tenure as Mister Fantastic.
The Welsh actor — who starred alongside Chris Evans, Jessica Alba, and Michael Chiklis in 2005’s Fantastic Four and 2007’s Fantastic Four: Rise of the Silver Surfer — recently said he still feels “incredibly proud to be part of such a beautiful franchise.” So much so that he was disappointed when plans for a trilogy fell through.
“The mind-set was that we were going to do three,” Gruffudd said in a new interview with Vulture. “And I think the second movie was equally successful as the first and equally enjoyable for the fans. I particularly loved working with Doug Jones [who played Silver Surfer] on that movie, who’s just a terrific artist and an expert in the field of movement. If you want to witness somebody bringing a character to life physically, he’s just untouchable.”
courtesy Everett Collection
Jessica Alba, Ioan Gruffudd, Chris Evans, and Michael Chiklis in 2005’s ‘Fantastic Four’
He added that while that success definitely gave the cast “momentum” to carry them into a third film, it didn’t pan out. “The plan was to do three movies,” Gruffudd said, “but these decisions are beyond my control,”
Fantastic Four and its sequel each earned upwards of $300 million at the box office, and inspired plenty of fan buzz despite their mixed reviews. Still, before the decade was over, 20th Century Fox had scrapped its plans for a threequel with the first two movies’ stars and announced that it would reboot the franchise. This came to pass in 2015 with a new Fantastic Four film starring Miles Teller as Reed Richards and Kate Mara, Michael B. Jordan, and Jamie Bell rounding out the core cast. It was a critical and box office flop, and a sequel to it would have been dead on arrival.
With this summer’s The Fantastic Four: First Steps — featuring Pedro Pascal, Vanessa Kirby, Joseph Quinn, and Ebon Moss-Bachrach — the superhero team makes their official entrance into the MCU.
As for Gruffudd, he has been open about how the abrupt end of the franchise contributed to his loss of confidence, as the pace of his career slowed down after he starred in the superhero films.
“As an actor, you almost grieve every part that you’ve played, and this was no different,” he explained to Vulture. “This was a massive stepping stone in my career, and because this was two movies over several years, the character becomes part of you. So I think the grieving process is that you’ve enjoyed the character so much and you’re not getting to play them again.”
Phillip Faraone/Getty
Ioan Gruffudd at the ‘Fantastic Four: First Steps’ world premiere in Los Angeles on July 21, 2025
That said, Gruffudd has fond memories of the films and noted that he still feels “a great sense of pride” for portraying a character that is “so beloved.”
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The conversation also found him quipping about playing another adored comic book character — if for only a moment. In a deleted scene from the 2005 Fantastic Four film, Gruffudd’s Reed Richards morphs his face into Wolverine (Hugh Jackman) to impress Alba’s Sue Storm. A nod at the time to the long-running X-Men franchise, the scene lived on thanks to DVD extras and YouTube.
“I don’t know why that didn’t make it into the film,” he said in the new interview. “Paying homage to the great Hugh Jackman was quite a thrill because I absolutely love him as an actor and his Wolverine. I’m glad that it has a chance to exist somewhere.”
Gruffudd then joked that “for a brief second” he played both Mister Fantastic and Wolverine. Two beloved characters for the price of one!
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