cast of fantastic voyage (tv series)

Fantastic Voyage

View history

Fantastic Voyage is an American animated science fiction TV series based on the famous 1966 film directed by Richard Fleischer. The series consists of -hour episodes, airing Saturday mornings on ABC-TV from September 14, 1968, through January 4, 1969, then rebroadcast the following fall season. The series was produced by Filmation Associates in association with 20th Century Fox. A Fantastic Voyage comic book, based on the series, was published by Gold Key and lasted two issues.

The show was later broadcast in reruns on the Sci Fi Channel's Cartoon Quest , from 1992 to 1996.

1 Opening Narration
4 Home media

Opening Narration [ ]

Headquarters: CMDF--Combined Miniature Defense Force. Project: Fantastic Voyage. Process: Miniaturization. Authority: Top Secret, highest clearance. Team: Jonathan Kidd, Commander. Guru, master of mysterious powers. Erica Lane, doctor, biologist. Busby Birdwell, scientist, inventor, builder of the Voyager. Mission: In their miniaturized form, to combat the unseen, unsuspected enemies of freedom. Time limit: Twelve hours.

Premise [ ]

Fantastic Voyage is the story of the C.M.D.F. also known as (Combined Miniature Defense Force), a secret United States government organization that possessed the ability to reduce people to microscopic size.

The main characters were Commander Jonathan Kidd; biologist Erica Lane; scientist Busby Birdwell; and a "master of mysterious powers" known only as Guru. The team was reduced in size for its missions, each miniaturization period having a time limit of 12 hours, and it traveled around in a microscopic flying submarine, the Voyager, doing battle against the unseen, unsuspecting enemies of the free world, both criminal and germinal matter. The missions of the team were given out and supervised by Professor Carter, in charge of the miniaturization process, and a character usually referred to as "the Chief" (presumably the overall leader of the CMDF), who was always seen only in shadow. The series featured character voices provided by Marvin Miller, Jane Webb, and Ted Knight. The producers were Lou Scheimer and Norm Prescott, the director was Hal Sutherland, and the music was provided by Gordon Zahler.

Changes from the film, aside from the ship's crew, included the duration of miniaturization (one hour in the film, 12 in the cartoon) and the meaning of the acronym CMDF from "Combined Miniaturized Deterrent Force" to "Combined Miniature Defense Force.

Episodes [ ]

Home media [ ].

There are currently no plans to release the series on DVD and/or Blu-ray Disc in Region 1 from 20th Century Studios Home Entertainment, although most of the series is available for viewing on YouTube, and the show was released on DVD in the United Kingdom years previously.

The complete series was released, as a 3-disc DVD set, in the United Kingdom by Revelation Films on November 21, 2011.

1 Filmation
2 Rod Rocket
3 The Hardy Boys

Fantastic Voyage

1 9 6 8 – 1 9 7 0 (USA) 17 x 30 minute episodes

This cartoon version of Fantastic Voyage was inspired by the original film (starring Raquel Welch ) involving a shrunken submarine undertaking a variety of miniature missions, always with a twelve-hour time limit.

Commander Jonathan Kidd led the crew, which travelled aboard a high-tech vehicle called the Voyager . With scientist Busby Birdwell (who built the ship) at the controls, the Voyager could dive underwater like a sub, fly through the air like a plane, or rocket off into space like a UFO.

The cartoon version also featured Professor Carter, biologist Erica Lane, and the mystical Guru, who possessed some kind of “mysterious power.” Whatever it was, it came in handy – in every episode, the crew faced unknown microscopic creatures, as well as shrunken enemy spies, all out to stop the CMDF.

Each episode paid close attention to the detail of the miniature world, which was, without a doubt, the main hook of the show. The producers also refused to patronise their audience with simplistic dialogue, giving the show a more grown-up feeling.

The eyepatch-wearing captain, though, was a poor substitute for Raquel!

Commander Jonathan Kidd Ted Knight Guru Marvin Miller Dr Erica Lane Jane Webb Busby Birdwell Marvin Miller Professor Carter Ted Knight The Chief Marvin Miller Narrator Ted Knight

Comments are closed.

Type above and press Enter to search. Press Esc to cancel.

Log in or sign up for Rotten Tomatoes

Trouble logging in?

By continuing, you agree to the Privacy Policy and the Terms and Policies , and to receive email from the Fandango Media Brands .

By creating an account, you agree to the Privacy Policy and the Terms and Policies , and to receive email from Rotten Tomatoes and to receive email from the Fandango Media Brands .

By creating an account, you agree to the Privacy Policy and the Terms and Policies , and to receive email from Rotten Tomatoes.

Email not verified

Let's keep in touch.

Sign up for the Rotten Tomatoes newsletter to get weekly updates on:

Upcoming Movies and TV shows
Trivia & Rotten Tomatoes Podcast
Media News + More

By clicking "Sign Me Up," you are agreeing to receive occasional emails and communications from Fandango Media (Fandango, Vudu, and Rotten Tomatoes) and consenting to Fandango's Privacy Policy and Terms and Policies . Please allow 10 business days for your account to reflect your preferences.

OK, got it!

Movies / TV

No results found.

What's the Tomatometer®?
Login/signup

Movies in theaters

Opening this week
Top box office
Coming soon to theaters
Certified fresh movies

Movies at home

Fandango at Home
Netflix streaming
Prime Video
Most popular streaming movies
What to Watch New

Certified fresh picks

Kingdom of the Planet of the Apes Link to Kingdom of the Planet of the Apes
The Fall Guy Link to The Fall Guy
I Saw the TV Glow Link to I Saw the TV Glow

New TV Tonight

Doctor Who: Season 1
Dark Matter: Season 1
Black Twitter: A People's History: Season 1
Bodkin: Season 1
Pretty Little Liars: Summer School: Season 2
The Chi: Season 6
Reginald the Vampire: Season 2
Blood of Zeus: Season 2
Hollywood Con Queen: Season 1
Love Undercover: Season 1

Fantastic Voyage

Cast & crew.

Marvin Miller

Busby Birdwell

Commander Jonathan Kidd

Norm Prescott

Lou Scheimer

Series Info

The Science Fiction Horror and Fantasy Film Review

Fantastic Voyage (1966)

Rating: ★★★★.

Director – Richard Fleischer, Screenplay – Harry Kleiner, Adaptation – David Duncan, Story – Jay Lewis Bixby [ Jerome Bixby ] & Otto Klement, Producer – Saul David, Photography – Ernest Laszlo, Music – Leonard Rosenman, Photographic Effects – L.B. Abbott, Art Cruickshank & Emil Kosa Jr, Art Direction – Dale Hennesy & Jack Martin Smith, Submarine Design – Harper Goff. Production Company – 20th Century Fox.

Stephen Boyd (Charles Grant), Raquel Welch (Cora Peterson), Donald Pleasence (Dr Maxwell Michaels), Arthur Kennedy (Dr Peter Duval), William Redfield (William Owens), Edmond O’Brien (General Carter), Arthur O’Connell (Colonel Reid)

Scientist Jan Benes defects to the West but an attempted assassination by the other side places him a coma. Agent Charles Grant is recruited by the top-secret organisation Combined Miniaturized Deterrence Forces. He learns that he is to be part of a crew aboard a submarine The Proteus. The crew and submarine will be reduced to microscopic size and injected into the Benes’s bloodstream in order to operate on the surgically inaccessible clot in his brain using a laser. Injected into the body, Grant and the surgical team travel through the bloodstream in the submarine, marvelling at the wonders of the human body seen on a microscopic level. They must reach the brain within 60 minutes or else the effect will wear off and they will return to full-size. However, the voyage is undermined by one of the crew who is an enemy saboteur and is prepared to risk everything to stop the mission.

Join or Sign In

By joining TV Guide, you agree to our Terms of Use and acknowledge the data practices in our Privacy Policy .

TV Listings
Cast & Crew

Fantastic Voyage - Full Cast & Crew

72 Metascore
1 hr 40 mins
Drama, Fantasy, Science Fiction
Watchlist Where to Watch

A medical team is miniaturized and injected into the body of an injured man to perform delicate brain surgery.

Screenwriter

Cinematographer, production company, art director, set decorator, sound effects, sound/sound designer, special effects, production designer.

Show Spoilers
Night Vision
Sticky Header
Highlight Links

Follow TV Tropes

http://tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pmwiki.php/Film/FantasticVoyage

Film / Fantastic Voyage

Edit locked.

https://static.tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pub/images/fantastic_voyage_5.jpg

A 1966 Science Fiction film, directed by Richard Fleischer and starring Stephen Boyd , Raquel Welch , Edmond O'Brien, and Donald Pleasence , about a shrinking machine used to send a mini submarine and its crew inside the body of a defecting scientist.

During the Cold War , both the United States and " The Other Side " have discovered the shrinking technology, which is limited in practicality because of how short-lived the effect is. But the scientist Jan Benes (Jean Del Val) had discovered how to overcome the limit, and enemy agents will stop at nothing to prevent the secret from escaping from behind the Iron Curtain. Benes, wounded in an attack, is comatose and dying from a externally inoperable bloodclot, so the U.S. miniaturization taskforce organizes an expedition to be shrunken to remove the clot from the inside, operating on it at the cellular level.

But for the same reason they need to save the scientist, they have a time limit to get out of the body (or they'll grow back to normal size while inside of it). Even further, an enemy agent is trying to stop them; the protagonist Charles Grant (Boyd), who smuggled the scientist from behind the Iron Curtain, has to make sure the mission succeeds while not knowing who he can trust on the crew.

The film also received a novelization by Isaac Asimov , as well as an Animated Adaptation . Very often homaged or parodied — see "Fantastic Voyage" Plot .

This film and its novelization provide examples of:

And several years later he wrote a from-scratch "remake"-slash-"sequel", Fantastic Voyage 2: Destination Brain , that attempted to clean up even more of the science and plot problems.
Asimov also wrote an essay discussing the science problems brought by the premise of the movie, as among others how to miniaturize the sub and its crew, to be able to see when wavelengths of visible light are larger than the eyes of the crew, and getting air from the lungs when molecules are not much smaller than the submarine.
All for Nothing : In one version of the script, the team saves Benes, but Benes suffers from amnesia and does not remember how to achieve unlimited miniaturization .
all lowercase letters : The opening and closing credits for the film.
It isn't clear if the whirlpool was a freak accident or if Michaels knew about it somehow and navigated the Proteus there on purpose.
Grant insists his snapping safety line in the lungs must have been tampered with. This serves to increase the suspicion around Duval. But it could have been an accident, especially since the forces were described as "incredible," and because it's not clear when (or why) Michaels might have tampered with it.
Did Michaels deliberately navigate them through the lymph system, hoping that it might clog the engines? Or simply slow them down? Or did it have nothing to do with sabotage, and Michaels was earnestly concerned about the (justified) dangers of going through the ear?
One sexist example: antibodies tend to flood an area and attach themselves at random to anything they can. They wouldn't distinguish Cora from Grant, and would attack them both. Apparently, they wanted a Damsel in Distress moment instead.
Bald of Evil : Michaels
Bigger on the Inside : Played With — The Proteus was built as a single set, with removable exterior panels to allow filming. However, some have argued that the remaining volume is insufficient for the air tanks, engines, etc.
The Big Board : A vertical diagram of the scientist's body, where the location of the Proteus is marked.
Big "NO!" : Carter gets a few of these when things look bad.
Blob Monster : The White Cells
The Brigadier : General Carter, the commander of a scientific research division, who sends them into the body to save Benes and his knowledge.
Buried Alive : Michaels attributes his claustrophobia to having been trapped beneath rubble during the Blitz.
The Chains of Commanding : Carter is determined to have them get through the body, and takes some great risks to do so, but is clearly torn up over it.
The Coconut Effect : Deoxygenated blood is actually maroon , not blue. Blue is simply how systemic veins look from the outside when seen through human skin, and how deoxygenated blood vessels are illustrated to distinguish them from their oxygenated counterparts. But of course the film's lava lamp blobs - er, erythrocytes - turn from blue to red as they pick up oxygen in the lungs...
Communications Officer : Grant's cover
Cool Ship : The Proteus
Defector from Commie Land : Benes, who holds the secret to unlimited miniaturization.
Determinator : It's far more pronounced in the book, but Carter will do anything within reason he can to see the mission succeed, even induce cardiac arrest so they can travel through Benes' heart safely.
Elaborate Underground Base : CMDF HQ
Energy Weapon : The surgical laser, it has a constant beam and slices cleanly through what it's aimed at — but would a doctor really be using a rifle for brain surgery?
Fanservice : Raquel Welch is in the movie, wearing a skintight Latex Space Suit . 'Nuff said.
"Fantastic Voyage" Plot : The Trope Namer
Future Spandex : Under the neat white jumpsuits. Justified, both for the Fanservice, and because they're neoprene diving suits.
Giant's Droplet, Human's Shower : A variation. The crew inside Benes's body must make a quick exit before they grow back to their normal size, taking one of the tear ducts as their only possible route. The supervising scientists then discover them swimming in Benes's tears as if they are in a pool.
Got Volunteered : Grant is not happy to be selected for the mission once he finds out what it entails, but he isn't given much choice.
Government Agency of Fiction : C ombined M iniature D eterrent F orces (CMDF).
Hammer and Sickle Removed for Your Protection : The Soviet Union and its allies are only referred to as "The Other Side".
High-Tech Hexagons : The shrink ray room had hexagons all over the floor. The ship rose up on one of them once it got small enough, so that it could be shrunk one more time, and then readied for insertion into the guy's body.
Hollywood Atheist : Michaels. Does it come as any surprise to the 1960s audience that the non-believer turns out to be the traitor?
If I Wanted You Dead... : In the novelization, Grant eventually figures out the identity of the mole by realizing that the acts of sabotage that seem to implicate various crew members would have been far more effective if those crew members had in fact committed them using their specialized skills note Owens could have sabotaged the ship in a way that could not be fixed, Cora could have sabotaged the laser in a way that would not be visible, but would either prevent its use or make it so inaccurate that Benes would be killed, Duval figures out a way to save Grant when he is lost in the lungs, and could have just let him die . The one exception is Michaels, the only one who could have mis-navigated them into a circulatory whirlpool that nearly destroyed the ship.
Incredible Shrinking Man : The whole plot to the story involves a surgical team and their sub being shrunk to microbe size to laser away at the life-threatening clots Benes developed.
Insufferable Genius : Duval, the surgeon. In the novel he's more of a Dr. Jerk with No Social Skills .
Latex Space Suit : As Homer Simpson has been known to observe, the crew get to wear skintight diving suits when venturing out of the sub. This is actually quite justified, in that wetsuits are less complex than space suits and do indeed have to be quite figure-hugging — but any movie that gets Raquel Welch into a costume on those lines may be suspected of fanservice .
Played straight, however, in the heart scene. "60 seconds" of cardiac arrest actually lasts for over 3 minutes of film, probably to draw out the dramatic tension and the special effects.
Mega-Microbes : Inverted — Tiny Humans, normally sized Microbes...
The Navigator : Dr. Michaels, who steers the vessel through the body, being the member of the group who is most aware of what goes where in anatomical terms.
No Ending : The film ends with the Proteus destroyed, Michaels gobbled up by a white blood cell, and the rest of the crew escaping the scientist's brain through his tear duct, de-miniaturising on a microscope slide. There is no explanation for what actually happens afterwards. There was an extra scene at the end of the film that explained what happened next but for whatever reason it was cut out. See "Shaggy Dog" Story below.
No Plans, No Prototype, No Backup : Benes apparently did not keep any notes of his process. Justified in that he probably destroyed any notes he took to keep The Other Side from getting hold of them before he defected.
Nothing Is Scarier : Specifically, a lack of soundtrack is frequently used to build suspend. The first bit of "soundtrack" music comes after Acts I and II. There is no soundtrack at all in the ship's approach to the dangerous heart. The soundtrack is similarly absent while the crew are in the ear, to heighten the suspense around needing "complete silence."
Race Against the Clock : After miniaturization, the team has 60 minutes to complete their mission before they start to de-miniaturize.
The Radio Dies First : Technically, the laser dies first — the wireless is cannibalized to fix it.
Scenery Porn : The body interior sets, built full scale.
Seeker White Blood Cells : White blood cells are mentioned but not seen until the near end; antibodies make an earlier appearance.
"Shaggy Dog" Story : In the original screenplay, Dr. Benes awakens from the operation having recovered, but is unfortunately unable to remember how to make the shrinking process work indefinitely due to the blood-clot , rendering the heroes' efforts all for naught (other than having saved his life). This was included in the Asimov novelisation and surviving production stills suggest this was how the film was supposed to end as well, but it was removed - perhaps to prevent audiences from feeling that the heroes' efforts - and therefore the audience's time - had been wasted.
Shrink Ray : The non-portable variety, used chiefly as a research tool due to the time limit making military uses non-viable (it's also the variety that can expand as well as shrink note The novel notes the potential of entomologists using the tech - "Ants blown up to the size of locomotives for easier study" ).
The Smurfette Principle : Cora is the only female member of the team (and the only female speaking part in the movie). Colonel Reid complains that a woman has no place on such a dangerous mission.
Square-Cube Law : Why Isaac Asimov was initially reluctant to write the novelisation — he thought that being miniaturised was impossible because of this. Nevertheless, he decided it would make for some good writing and came up with a novelisation that is almost as hard as science fiction can be, ignoring the physical impossibility of miniaturisation.
Stating the Simple Solution : It takes a bit before Carter thinks to put cotton in Benes' ears to lessen the risk when they are traveling through the eardrum.
In the novelization, the mole is played with more subtlety. Michaels avoids the blatant panic attacks of his movie incarnation, and serves as Grant's mentor about miniaturization; the two even discuss possible suspects throughout the story — including themselves. (Grant admits that Michaels' theory that The Other Side could have let Grant escape with Dr. Benes to build his reputation is reasonable, if nothing else.)
To the Batpole! : The Elevator to CMDF HQ.
The War Room : The CMDF Operating Theater
What Happened to the Mouse? : A number of elements that should be problematic are ignored: the wreckage of the Proteus , and Dr. Michaels' body, after being eaten by the white blood cell — somehow that keeps them from re-enlarging once time runs out. This is one of the most memorable plot holes of the film, and Asimov made sure to close it in his novelization. Massively averted by the novelization, which accurately depicts, as well as we know (or, at least, as well as we knew in 1966), what it would be like if humans could in fact be miniaturized to this degree. Even Brownian Motion (random molecular motion of a fluid or gas) is noticed and commented on. Most of the flaws of the movie are explained or elaborated on so as to be acceptable to reality, making the book as much a corrective Retcon as a novelization.
The World Is Just Awesome : Well not the world , but this describes Duval's feelings about their journey though the body.
Zeerust : Varies — Being set 20 Minutes into the Future in 1960s, some elements, like the laser rifle don't hold up well, while the Proteus itself varies from a sleek futuristic but practical exterior, to an interior that could be considered Used Future . What dates the film most of all are the '60s contemporary elements, such as computers, cars and uniforms.
Hello, Dolly!
Creator/Magnetic Video
Von Ryan's Express
Fantastic Mr. Fox
Creator/20th Century Studios
A Farewell to Arms
Fahrenheit 451
Films of the 1960s
Fighting Elegy
Films of 2010–2014
A Field in England
The Fantastic Four
AmericanFilms/D to G
Far and Away
Fahrenheit 451 (2018)
Science Fiction Films
MediaNotes/Parental Guidance Suggested Rating
The Farewell
Letters 2 Numbers
ImageSource/Live-Action Films (A to L)
"Fantastic Voyage" Plot

Important Links

Action Adventure
Commercials
Crime & Punishment
Professional Wrestling
Speculative Fiction
Sports Story
Animation (Western)
Music And Sound Effects
Print Media
Sequential Art
Tabletop Games
Applied Phlebotinum
Characterization
Characters As Device
Narrative Devices
British Telly
The Contributors
Creator Speak
Derivative Works
Laws And Formulas
Show Business
Split Personality
Truth And Lies
Truth In Television
Fate And Prophecy
Edit Reasons
Isolated Pages
Images List
Recent Videos
Crowner Activity
Un-typed Pages
Recent Page Type Changes
Trope Entry
Character Sheet
Playing With
Creating New Redirects
Cross Wicking
Tips for Editing
Text Formatting Rules
Handling Spoilers
Administrivia
Trope Repair Shop
Image Pickin'

'Fantastic Four' Casts John Malkovich in Mystery Role

J ohn Malkovich has joined the cast of Marvel Studios' "Fantastic Four" in a mystery role, according to an insider with knowledge of the project.

Marvel first revealed the core cast of the Fantastic Four back in February, after months of rumors and speculation. Pedro Pascal will star as Reed Richards/Mr. Fantastic, Vanessa Kirby is playing Sue Storm/The Invisible Woman, Ebon Moss-Bachrach will become Ben Grimm/The Thing and Joseph Quinn will play Kirby's brother, Johnny Storm/The Human Torch. Paul Walter Hauser recently joined the cast.

"Wandavision's" Matt Shakman is directing "Fantastic Four" from a script by Eric Pearson, Josh Friedman, Jeff Kaplan, and Ian Springer, along with Peter Cameron who also wrote on the project.

The Fantastic Four are, of course, known widely as Marvel's "First Family." They're a group of superheroes who get their powers from radiation off a space storm. Mr. Fantastic has the ability to stretch and morph himself into all kinds of shapes and sizes, Sue Storm can turn invisible, Johnny Storm can wield fire and Ben Grimm turns into a humongous rock-man.

Malkovich recently starred in the Apple TV+ drama series "The New Look." He played French fashion designer Lucien Lelong in the show, appearing alongside actors Ben Mendelsohn, Juliette Binoche, Maisie Williams and others.

Malkovich is repped by WME.

Deadline first reported the news.

The post 'Fantastic Four' Casts John Malkovich in Mystery Role appeared first on TheWrap .

Fantastic Voyage

Fantastic Voyage is a 1966 American science fiction adventure film directed by Richard Fleischer and written by Harry Kleiner , based on a story by Otto Klement and Jerome Bixby . The film is about a submarine crew who is shrunk to microscopic size and venture into the body of an injured scientist to repair damage to his brain. [4] [5] [6] [7] In adapting the story for his script, Kleiner abandoned all but the concept of miniaturization and added a Cold War element. The film starred Stephen Boyd , Raquel Welch , Edmond O'Brien , Donald Pleasence , and Arthur Kennedy .

Awards and honors

Adaptations, novelization, animated television series, other adaptations, cancelled sequel/remake, similarly-themed works, external links.

Bantam Books obtained the rights for a paperback novelization based on the screenplay and approached Isaac Asimov to write it. [8] [9] Because the novelization was released six months before the movie, many people mistakenly believed that the film was based on Asimov's book. Its modern and imaginative production design received five nominations at the 39th Academy Awards mostly in technical departments, winning for Best Visual Effects and Best Art Direction in Color .

The movie used the concept of miniaturization in science fiction along with The Incredible Shrinking Man and inspired an animated television series of the same name .

The United States and the Soviet Union have both developed technology that can miniaturize matter by shrinking individual atoms, but only for one hour. A scientist, Dr. Jan Benes, working behind the Iron Curtain , has figured out how to make the process work indefinitely. With the help of American intelligence agents, including agent Charles Grant, he escapes to the West and arrives in New York City , but an attempted assassination leaves him comatose with a blood clot in his brain that no surgery can remove from the outside.

To save his life, Grant, Navy pilot Captain Bill Owens, medical chief and circulatory specialist Dr. Michaels, surgeon Dr. Peter Duval, and his assistant Cora Peterson are placed aboard a Navy ichthyology submarine at the Combined Miniature Deterrent Forces (CMDF) facilities. The submarine, named Proteus , is then miniaturized to "about the size of a microbe", and injected into Benes' body. The team has 60 minutes to get to and remove the clot; after this, Proteus and its crew will begin reverting to their normal size, become vulnerable to Benes's immune system, and kill Benes.

The crew faces many obstacles during the mission. An undetected arteriovenous fistula forces them to detour through the heart, where cardiac arrest must be induced to, at best, reduce turbulence that would be strong enough to destroy Proteus . The crew faces an unexplained loss of oxygen and must replenish their supply in the lungs. They notice "rocks" that are actually carbon particles from smoke. Grant finds the surgical laser needed to destroy the clot was damaged from the turbulence in the heart, as it was not fastened down as it had been before: this and his safety line snapping loose while the crew was refilling their air supply lead Grant to suspect a saboteur is on the mission. The crew must cannibalize their wireless radio to repair the laser, cutting off all communication and guidance from the outside, although because the submarine is nuclear-powered, surgeons and technicians outside Benes's body are still able to track their movements via a radioactive tracer, allowing General Alan Carter and Colonel Donald Reid, the officers in charge of CMDF, to figure out the crew's strategies as they make their way through the body.

The sub enters the lymphatic system , but the reticular fibres started to interfere. The crew is then forced to pass through the inner ear, requiring all outside personnel to make no noise to prevent destructive shocks, but while the crew is removing reticular fibers clogging the submarine's vents and making the engines overheat, a fallen surgical tool causes the crew to be thrown about and Peterson is nearly killed by antibodies , but they are able to reboard the submarine in time. By the time they finally reach the clot, the crew has only six minutes remaining to operate and then exit the body.

Before the mission, Grant had been briefed that Duval was the prime suspect as a potential surgical assassin, but as the mission progresses, he instead begins to suspect Michaels. During the surgery, Dr. Michaels knocks out Owens and takes control of Proteus while the rest of the crew is outside for the operation. As Duval finishes removing the clot with the laser, Michaels tries to crash the submarine into the same area of Benes' brain to kill him. Grant fires the laser at the ship, causing it to veer away and crash, and Michaels to get trapped in the wreckage with the controls pinning him to the seat, which attracts the attention of white blood cells . While Grant saves Owens from the Proteus , Michaels is killed when a white blood cell consumes the ship. The remaining crew quickly swim to one of Benes' eyes and escape through a tear duct seconds before returning to normal size.

Stephen Boyd as Charles Grant, a CIA Agent enlisted to protect Benes
Raquel Welch as Cora Peterson, the technical assistant for Dr. Duval
Edmond O'Brien as General Alan Carter, one of the officers in charge of Combined Miniature Deterrent Forces
Donald Pleasence as Dr. Michaels, CMDF's medical chief and a circulatory specialist later revealed to be the saboteur of the mission
Arthur O'Connell as Colonel Donald Reid, the operational commander for CMDF
William Redfield as Captain Bill Owens, a U.S. Navy officer who designed the Proteus for his branch's research and development program
Arthur Kennedy as Dr. Peter Duval, a top-class brain surgeon enlisted to perform the surgery on Benes
Jean Del Val as Dr. Jan Benes, the comatose scientist who perfected the formula for unlimited miniaturization
Barry Coe as communications aide
Ken Scott as a Secret Service agent
Shelby Grant as nurse
James Brolin as technician

The film was the original idea of Otto Klement and Jerome Bixby . They sold it to Fox, which announced the film would be "the most expensive science-fiction film ever made." Richard Fleischer was assigned to direct and Saul David to produce; both men had worked at the studio before. [10] Fleischer had originally studied medicine and human anatomy in college before choosing to be a movie director. Harry Kleiner was brought in to work on the script. [11]

The budget was set at $5 million. [12] The budget went up to $6 million, $3 million of which went on the sets and $1 million on test footage. [11]

The Proteus submarine was constructed as a full-size set piece 42 feet long, first seen in the "miniaturizer" room and later in scenes set outside the lung and inside the inner ear, when the cast was to be seen "swimming" (actually suspended by wires) outside the submarine. The full-size Proteus mockup contained all the interior sets that the actors are seen in to represent the interior of the submarine, with sections that could be pulled out to allow for cameras and crew to film the interior. The submarine was also constructed in miniature, including a large miniature around five feet in length that could be flown on wires in the abstract sets representing the inside of the human body. The heart and brain sets built to accommodate the five-foot miniature filled a soundstage on the Fox lot—these were filmed "dry for wet," with floating, blob-shaped elements meant to be blood cells filmed separately and composited over the footage. A smaller, 18-inch miniature of the Proteus was constructed to operate in liquid for a shot of the submarine bursting through an arterial wall early in the movie. A tiny Proteus miniature just a few inches in length was made for the miniaturization sequence to show the ship being picked up by a "precision handling device" and dropped into a large glass cylinder which was then miniaturized to become part of a syringe that would inject the Proteus into the brain-injured scientist. [13]

The film starred Stephen Boyd, making his first Hollywood movie in five years. It was the first role at Fox for Raquel Welch, who was put under contract to the studio after being spotted in a beauty contest by Saul David's wife. [14]

For the technical and artistic elaboration of the subject, Fleischer asked for the collaboration of two people of the crew that he had worked with on the production of 20,000 Leagues Under the Sea , the film he directed for Walt Disney in 1954. The designer of the Nautilus from the Jules Verne adaptation, Harper Goff , also designed the Proteus; the same technical advisor, Fred Zendar, collaborated on both productions. [15]

At one point in the movie's preproduction it was positioned as one of the Derek Flint spy spoof movies starring James Coburn, which were produced by 20th Century Fox and Saul David. Several script pages sampled in the bonus features of the 2012 DVD release of Fantastic Voyage show Stephen Boyd's Grant character (who, like Flint, is a secret agent) being identified as Flint, and some of Flint's wisecracks about not wanting to be miniaturized survive to be uttered by Boyd's Grant in Fantastic Voyage. Years later comic actor Mike Myers proposed making an installment of his own Austin Powers spy spoof movies called Shagtastic Voyage, in which Powers would be injected into the body of Dr. Evil.

The military headquarters is 100 m × 30 m (328 ft × 98 ft) and the Proteus 14 m × 8 m (46 ft × 26 ft) . The artery, in resin and fiberglass, is 33 m (108 ft) long and 7 m (23 ft) wide; the heart is 45 m × 10 m (148 ft × 33 ft) and the brain is 70 m × 33 m (230 ft × 108 ft) . The plasma effect was produced by chief operator Ernest Laszlo via the use of multicolored turning lights, placed on the outside of translucent decors. [16]

"There are no precedents so we must proceed by trial and error", said David. [12]

Frederick Schodt 's book The Astro Boy Essays: Osamu Tezuka, Mighty Atom, and the Manga/Anime Revolution claims that Fox had wanted to use ideas from an episode of Japanese animator Osamu Tezuka 's Astro Boy in the film, but it never credited him.

Isaac Asimov, asked to write the novelization from the script, declared that the script was full of plot holes , and received permission to write the book the way he wanted. The novel came out first because he wrote quickly and because of delays in filming. [17]

The score was composed and conducted by Leonard Rosenman . The composer deliberately wrote no music for the first four reels of the film, before the protagonists enter the human body. Rosenman wrote that "the harmony for the entire score is almost completely atonal except for the very end when our heroes grow to normality". [18]

The film received mostly positive reviews and a few criticisms. The weekly entertainment-trade magazine Variety gave the film a positive pre-release review, stating, "The lavish production, boasting some brilliant special effects and superior creative efforts, is an entertaining, enlightening excursion through inner space—the body of a man." [19] Bosley Crowther of The New York Times wrote, "Yessir, for straight science-fiction, this is quite a film—the most colorful and imaginative since Destination Moon " (1950). [20] Richard Schickel of Life magazine wrote that the rewards would be "plentiful" to audiences who get over the "real whopper" of suspended disbelief required. He found that though the excellent special effects and sets could distract from the scenery's scientific purpose in the story, the "old familiar music of science fiction" in lush new arrangements was a "true delight", and the seriousness with which screenwriter Kleiner and director Fleischer treated the story made it more believable and fun. Schickel made note of, but dismissed, other critics' allegations of " camp ." [21]

As of 2023 [ update ] , the film holds a 92% approval rating at review aggregator Rotten Tomatoes from 36 reviews, with an average rating of 7/10. The website's critics consensus reads: "The special effects may be a bit dated today, but Fantastic Voyage still holds up well as an imaginative journey into the human body." [22]

According to Fox records, the film needed to earn $9,400,000 in rentals to break even and made $8,880,000, meaning it initially showed a slight loss, but television sales moved it into the black, and subsequent home video sales were almost entirely profit. [23]

The film won two Academy Awards and was nominated for three more: [24]

Academy Awards (1966)

After acquiring the film's paperback novelization rights, Bantam Books approached Isaac Asimov to write the novelization, offering him a flat sum of $5,000 with no royalties involved. In his autobiography In Joy Still Felt , Asimov writes, "I turned down the proposal out of hand. Hackwork, I said. Beneath my dignity." [17] However, Bantam Books persisted, and at a meeting with Marc Jaffe and Marcia Nassiter on April 21, 1965, Asimov agreed to read the screenplay.

In the novelization's introduction, Asimov states that he was reluctant to write the book because he believed that the miniaturization of matter was physically impossible, but he decided that it was still good fodder for story-telling and that it could still make for some intelligent reading. In addition, 20th Century Fox was known to want someone with some science-fiction clout to help promote the film. Aside from the initial "impossibility" of the shrinking machine, Asimov went to great lengths to portray with great accuracy what it would actually be like to be reduced to infinitesimal scale. He discussed the ability of the lights on the submarine to penetrate normal matter, issues of time distortion, and other side effects that the movie does not address. Asimov was also bothered by the way the wreck of Proteus was left in Benes. In a subsequent meeting with Jaffe, he insisted that he would have to change the ending so that the submarine was brought out. Asimov also felt the need to gain permission from his usual science-fiction publisher, Doubleday, to write the novel. Doubleday did not object, and had suggested his name to Bantam in the first place. Asimov began work on the novel on May 31, and completed it on July 23. [25]

In the film, the crew (apart from the saboteur) manage to leave Benes's body safely before reverting to normal size, but the Proteus remains inside, as do the remains of the saboteur's body (albeit digested by a white blood cell ), and several gallons (full scale) of a carrier solution (presumably saline) used in the injection syringe. Isaac Asimov pointed out that this was a serious logical flaw in the plot, [26] since the submarine (even if reduced to bits of debris) would also revert to normal size, killing Benes in the process. Therefore, in his novelization Asimov had the crew provoke the white cell into following them, so that it drags the submarine to the tear duct, and its wreckage expands outside Benes's body. Asimov solved the problem of the syringe fluid by having the staff inject only a very small amount of miniaturized fluid into Benes, minimizing its effect on him when it expands.

Asimov did not want any of his books, even a film novelization, to appear only in paperback, so in August, he persuaded Austin Olney of Houghton Mifflin to publish a hardcover edition, [27] assuring him that the book would sell at least 8000 copies, which it did. [28] However, since the rights to the story were held by Otto Klement, who had co-written the original story treatment, Asimov would not be entitled to any royalties. By the time the hardcover edition was published in March 1966, Houghton Mifflin had persuaded Klement to allow Asimov to have a quarter of the royalties. [29] Klement also negotiated for The Saturday Evening Post to serialize an abridged version of the novel, and he agreed to give Asimov half the payment for it. Fantastic Voyage (abridged to half its length) appeared in the February 26 and March 12, 1966, issues of the Post. [30] Bantam Books released the paperback edition of the novel in September 1966 to coincide with the release of the film. [31] Harry Harrison , reviewing the Asimov novelization, called it a "Jerry-built monstrosity", praising the descriptions of science-fiction events as "Asimov at his best", while condemning the narrative framework as "inane drivel". [32]

Fantastic Voyage is an American animated science fiction TV series based on the film. [33] The series consists of 17 half-hour episodes, airing Saturday mornings on ABC-TV from September 14, 1968, through January 4, 1969, then rebroadcast the following fall season. The series was produced by Filmation Associates in association with 20th Century Fox . A Fantastic Voyage comic book, based on the series, was published by Gold Key and lasted two issues. [34]

A comic book adaptation of the film was released by Gold Key Comics in 1967. Drawn by Wally Wood , the book followed the plot of the movie with general accuracy, but many scenes were depicted differently and/or outright dropped, and the ending was given an epilogue similar as that seen in some of the early draft scripts for the film. [35] [36]

A parody of the film titled "Fantastecch Voyage" was published in Mad Magazine . It was illustrated by Mort Drucker and written by Larry Siegel in issue #110, April 1967. [37] The advertising-business-themed spoof has the crew—from L.S.M.F.T. (Laboratory Sector for Making Folks Tiny)—sent to inject decongestant into a badly plugged-up nose.

The film was adapted into a video game for Atari 2600 in 1982 by Fox Video Games . [38]

Fantastic Voyage II: Destination Brain (1987) was written by Isaac Asimov as an attempt to develop and present his own story apart from the 1966 screenplay. This novel is not a sequel to the original, but instead is a separate story taking place in the Soviet Union with an entirely different set of characters.

Fantastic Voyage: Microcosm is a third interpretation, written by Kevin J. Anderson , published in 2001. This version has the crew of the Proteus explore the body of a dead alien that crash-lands on earth, and updates the story with such modern concepts as nanotechnology (replacing killer white cells ). [ citation needed ]

Plans for a sequel or remake have been in discussion since at least 1984, but as of the beginning of July 2015, the project remained stuck in development hell . In 1984, Isaac Asimov was approached to write Fantastic Voyage II , out of which a movie would be made. [39] Asimov "was sent a suggested outline" that mirrored the movie Innerspace and "involved two vessels in the bloodstream, one American and one Soviet, and what followed was a kind of submicroscopic version of World War III." [39] Asimov was against such an approach. Following a dispute between publishers, the original commissioners of the novel approached Philip José Farmer , who "wrote a novel and sent [in] the manuscript" that was rejected despite "stick[ing] tightly to the outline [that was sent to Asimov]." [39] "It dealt with World War III in the bloodstream, and it was full of action and excitement." [39] Although Asimov urged the publisher to accept Farmer's manuscript, it was insisted that Asimov write the novel. So, Asimov eventually wrote the book in his own way (completely different in plot from what [Farmer] had written), which was eventually published by Doubleday in 1987 as Fantastic Voyage II and "dealt not with competing submarines in the bloodstream, but with one submarine, with [an] American hero cooperating (not entirely voluntarily) with four Soviet crew members." [39] The novel was not made into a movie, however.

James Cameron was also interested in directing a remake (since at least 1997), [40] but decided to devote his efforts to his Avatar project. He still remained open to the idea of producing a feature based on his own screenplay, and in 2007, 20th Century Fox announced that pre-production on the project was finally underway. Roland Emmerich agreed to direct, but rejected the script written by Cameron. [40] [41] Marianne and Cormac Wibberley were hired to write a new script, but the 2007–2008 Writers Guild of America strike delayed filming, and Emmerich began working on 2012 instead. [41] [42]

In spring 2010, Paul Greengrass was considering directing the remake from a script written by Shane Salerno and produced by James Cameron , but later dropped out to be replaced by Shawn Levy . It was intended that the film be shot in native stereoscopic 3D. [43]

In January 2016, The Hollywood Reporter reported that Guillermo del Toro was in talks to direct the reboot by reteaming with David S. Goyer , who was writing the film's script with Justin Rhodes with Cameron still on the film by his production company Lightstorm Entertainment . [44] In August 2017, it was reported that del Toro had postponed working on the film to completely focus on his film The Shape of Water , due to release the same year, and he would start pre-production in spring 2018 and would begin filming in the fall of the same year for a 2020 release. [45]

In April 2024, Cameron offered an update on the project: "we plan to go ahead with it very soon." [46]

The Invisible Enemy , a 1977 four-part serial of the British TV series Doctor Who is said to have been inspired by the film. In it, the Doctor 's body is possessed by an evil virus, so a doctor creates clones of his companion Leela and himself to enter his head to search for the virus and destroy it. [47]
The 1987 film Innerspace follows a similar plotline, this time concerning a test pilot being miniaturized and injected into a store clerk, although accidentally. [48]
The live-action/animated comedy film Osmosis Jones stars a white cell cop trying to stop a deadly virus from destroying the human he guards. [48] [49]

The concept of entering the human body popularized by Fantastic Voyage has been greatly influential especially in animated TV shows, of which there are several examples:

Captain Planet and the Planeteers episode "An Inside Job" features The Planeteers battling water-borne parasites in Kwame's body so that he can recover. [49]
SpongeBob SquarePants episode " Squidtastic Voyage " spoofs the film, with SpongeBob and Patrick attempting to retrieve Squidward's clarinet reed after he swallows it. [49] Other Nicktoons have used the Fantastic Voyage template, such as the Rugrats episode " The Inside Story ", involving the babies being forced to shrink down and enter Chuckie's body to retrieve a watermelon seed, [48] [49] The Angry Beavers episode, "Vantastic Voyage", where the scientists go inside Dag's body, the Fairly OddParents episode " Tiny Timmy! ", which has Timmy being shrunk down by Cosmo and Wanda to enter Vicky's body in order to study for school, and The Adventures of Jimmy Neutron: Boy Genius episode, "Journey to the Center of Carl", where Jimmy and his friends go inside Carl's body, among others. [49]
Children's educational TV series The Magic School Bus had a number of episodes involving the bus going inside a human: "For Lunch" and "Inside Ralphie" in the first season, "Flexes Its Muscles" in the second season, "Works Out" in the third season and "Goes Cellular" and "Makes a Stink" in the final season, dealing with the topics of Digestion, Germs, Body Mechanics, Circulation, Cells and Smelling respectively. [48] [49]
The Iron Man animated TV series features the episode "Iron Man, On the Inside", in which Iron Man must go inside Hawkeye to save him. [50]
Dexter's Laboratory episode " Fantastic Boyage " features Dexter attempting to inject himself into Dee Dee to find a cure for the common cold, inadvertently winding up inside his dog. [49]
Futurama episode " Parasites Lost " involves the Planet Express crew sending microscopic copies of themselves inside Fry to save him from parasites. [48] [49]
Family Guy episode " Emission Impossible " has Stewie shrinking down and going inside of Peter's testicles to prevent him and Lois from having another baby. [48] [49]
Both Teen Titans and Teen Titans Go! feature episodes in which either Beast Boy or Robin enter Cyborg's body to cure him. [50]
The Simpsons' fifteenth iteration of Treehouse of Horror sees in its third leg a trip into Mr. Burns's body to rescue Maggie after she gets shrunk down into a pill and ingested. [48] [49]
Phineas and Ferb episode "Journey to the Center of Candace" features Phineas and Ferb building a shrinking submarine to enter Isabella's chihuahua, but accidentally ending up inside their sister Candace. [49]
Batman: The Brave and the Bold episode "Journey to the Center of the Bat!" has Atom and Aquaman traveling through Batman's body to cure him. [49]
Regular Show episode "Cool Cubed" features Mordecai and Rigby shrinking and traveling into Thomas's brain to stop it from freezing. [49]
Rick and Morty episode " Anatomy Park " involves Rick shrinking Morty down to fit in a homeless man dressed as Santa Claus to assist with the amusement park he was trying to operate inside of him. [48] [49]
Archer two-part season 6 finale "Drastic Voyage" directly spoofs the film. [50]
List of American films of 1966
List of films featuring miniature people
Microsurgery

site categories

‘poolman’ star chris pine tunes out the bad vibes and worse reviews, john malkovich joins ‘the fantastic four’.

By Matt Grobar

Matt Grobar

Senior Film Reporter

Disney’s Bob Iger On Reducing Marvel Output, Balancing Sequels And Original Films

‘Guardians Of The Galaxy Vol. 3’: James Gunn’s Last Ride At Marvel, At No. 9, Is Disney’s Only Pic In Deadline’s 2023 Most Valuable Blockbuster Tournament

WandaVision ‘s Matt Shakman is directing The Fantastic Four from a script by Eric Pearson, Josh Friedman, Jeff Kaplan, and Ian Springer. Peter Cameron ( WandaVision ) has also done some writing on the project. Kevin Feige is producing for Marvel Studios , with the film slated to hit theaters on July 25, 2025.

A two-time Oscar nominee, Malkovich was most recently seen starring opposite Ben Mendelsohn, Juliette Binoche, Maisie Williams and more in Apple TV+’s drama series The New Look from Todd A. Kessler, taking on the role of French fashion designer Lucien Lelong. Also recently appearing in the finale of Netflix’s Ripley , the actor was seen prior to that in Showtime’s Billions and Netflix’s Space Force , along with numerous indie features.

Up next, Malkovich will be seen in Julian Schnabel’s Hand of Dante , A24’s horror film Opus opposite Ayo Edebiri, and the biopic The Yellow Tie on famed Romanian conductor Sergiu Celibidache, among other projects. The actor is represented by WME.

Must Read Stories

‘kingdom of the planet of the apes’ thursday previews around $6 million.

Tom Hiddleston To Play Edmund Hillary In ‘Tenzing’, About First Everest Climbers

Willy wonka reality series heats up at netflix amid rise of unscripted bakeoff shows, bravo host cleared of allegations, but doubters say probe was sham.

Subscribe to Deadline Breaking News Alerts and keep your inbox happy.

Marvel’s The Fantastic Four Casts Paul Walter Hauser

By Brandon Schreur

Paul Walter Hauser has been cast in Marvel ’s The Fantastic Four movie.

Per Deadline , Hauser has been cast in an undisclosed role in the forthcoming Fantastic Four movie that is being directed by Matt Shakman .

He’ll join Pedro Pascal as Reed Richards/Mr. Fantastic, Vanessa Kirby as Sue Storm/The Invisible Woman, Joseph Quinn as Johnny Storm/The Human Torch, Ebon Moss-Bachrach as Ben Grimm/The Thing, and Julia Garner as Shalla-Bal/Silver Surfer.

Hauser is known for starring in movies such as 2017’s I, Tonya, 2018’s Super Troopers 2, 2018’s BlacKkKlansman, 2019’s Richard Jewell, 2020’s Da 5 Bloods, 2021’s Cruella, and 2024’s Orion and the Dark.

He is also voicing Embarrassment in Pixar’s Inside Out 2, which releases in United States theaters this June, and stars alongside Matt Damon, Casey Affleck, and Hong Chau in The Instigators, which hits Apple TV+ in August.

Hauser was recently cast as Captain Ed in the forthcoming Naked Gun reboot that arrives in 2025. He additionally plays Raymond “Stingray” Porter in Netflix’s Cobra Kai series.

What else do we know about Marvel’s The Fantastic Four?

The Fantastic Four’s script was written by Eric Pearson, Josh Friedman, Jeff Kaplan, Ian Springer, and Peter Cameron. Production on the film is expected to begin this summer.

Plot details for The Fantastic Four remain under wraps at this time; although, it’s been speculated that the movie may be set sometime in the past, potentially the 1960s, given a promotional image Marvel Studios released when the main cast was announced.

There’s also been speculation that Galactus will serve as the main antagonist in the movie, while Doctor Doom is reportedly expected to have minimal screen time.

The Fantastic Four is currently scheduled to release in United States theaters on July 25, 2025, as part of Phase Six of the Marvel Cinematic Universe .

Brandon Schreur has been writing about comics, movies, television shows, and all things pop culture for roughly five years. He's a lifelong cinephile who spends way, way too much money buying Blu-rays and trade paperbacks. You can find him on twitter at @brandonschreur.

Prelude to War (1942) Streaming: Watch & Stream Online via Amazon Prime Video

Vaillante Streaming: Watch & Stream Online via Amazon Prime Video

O Brother, Where Art Thou? Streaming: Watch & Stream Online via Hulu

MCU Galactus Actor Found for The Fantastic Four Cast

The Fantastic Four Cast Adds John Malkovich to MCU Movie

X-Men ’97 Clip Previews Titular Team’s Upgraded Suits

Kevin Feige Admits Marvel’s Failures & Plans To ‘Exceed Expectations’ in 2024

Wolverine and Deadpool walking in Deadpool & Wolverine.

Bob Iger Details Marvel Plans to Limit Movies and TV Show Output

Abigail’s Kevin Durand Joins Cast of Naked Gun Reboot With Liam Neeson, Pamela Anderson

New Naked Gun Movie Cast Adds Paul Walter Hauser to Reboot

John Malkovich Joins 'The Fantastic Four': See Everyone Else Who's Been Cast

Pedro Pascal, Vanessa Kirby, Joseph Quinn and Eben Moss-Bachrach are set to star in the upcoming MCU film.

Marvel has tapped another big Hollywood name for its universe!

In May 2024, Deadline reported that John Malkovich is joining The Fantastic Four, days after ET confirmed that Black Bird star Paul Walter Hauser was also cast in the superhero team-up. No details about either role are currently available.

A month prior, ET confirmed that Julia Garner is set to take on the role of the Silver Surfer in the upcoming film. According to Deadline , who first reported the news, Garner will play the comic book version of the character, Shalla-Bal. The news comes as the quartet of actors making up the iconic quartet was previously announced.

The titular foursome was announced in February 2024, after years of speculation about remaking the comic quartet's live-action story on the big screen for the third time in less than 20 years.

Pedro Pascal is set to star as Reed Richards, aka Mister Fantastic. Mission: Impossible and The Crown star Vanessa Kirby will play Sue Storm, aka the Invisible Woman. Stranger Things' Joseph Quinn will play Sue's brother, the wisecracking Johnny Storm, aka the Human Torch. And The Bear's Eben Moss-Bacharach will return to the MCU as Ben Grimm, aka The Thing.

Marvel shared the news with a cute illustration of the team in celebration of Valentine's Day.

"Happy Valentine’s Day from Marvel’s First Family! Pedro Pascal, Vanessa Kirby, Ebon Moss-Bachrach, and Joseph Quinn are The Fantastic Four," the post was captioned. "Marvel Studios' #TheFantasticFour, in theaters July 25, 2025."

Marvel president Kevin Feige announced the upcoming film at San Diego Comic-Con in 2022. Originally slated to premiere later this year, The Fantastic Four was likely delayed due to the 2023 SAG-AFTRA and WGA strikes.

The Fantastic Four will kick off the MCU's Phase 6, which Feige revealed will "end the Multiverse Saga," concluding with two new Avengers films: Avengers 5 (formerly subtitled The Kang Dynasty) and Avengers: Secret Wars.

The Fantastic Four is set to premiere July 25, 2025.

Disney Pushes Back 3 Marvel Films: See the Full Upcoming Schedule

Kevin Feige on Why He Announced Phase 6 at San Diego Comic-Con 2022

Marvel's Phase 6 to Include 'Fantastic 4,' Two New Avengers Films

Pedro Pascal
Vanessa Kirby
Joseph Quinn
Marvel Cinematic Universe
Julia Garner
Paul Walter Hauser

Updates on Celebrity News, TV, Fashion and More!

Screen Rant

Marvel's the fantastic four casts john malkovich in mystery role.

Your changes have been saved

Email Is sent

Please verify your email address.

You’ve reached your account maximum for followed topics.

Who Is Shalla-Bal? The Female Silver Surfer In The Fantastic Four Movie Explained

Newest fantastic four casting news could bring the team's oldest villain to life for the first time in 63 years, the fantastic four casts ralph ineson as marvel's planet-eating cosmic villain galactus.

John Malkovich joins The Fantastic Four cast, but his character details are being kept under wraps.
Malkovich is likely to play a crucial role in the Phase 5 movie, possibly even the villain Galactus.
The Fantastic Four reboot will continue casting ahead of production starting later in 2024.

The Marvel Cinematic Universe is adding John Malkovich to the ever-expanding franchise as he has landed a role in The Fantastic Four movie. One of the most highly anticipated upcoming films for the MCU is The Fantastic Four , after the character rights finally returned to Marvel Studios after being at Fox for many years. Production on the reboot is expected to start later this year, and The Fantastic Four cast is currently being filled out ahead of filming starting.

Screen Rant confirmed with Disney/Marvel that Malkovich is joining the MCU as part of The Fantastic Four cast. However, details about Malkovich's character are being kept under wraps for the time being, so it remains to be seen who he'll play in the film. Malkovich is the latest talent to board the reboot, following the news of Paul Walter Hauser being cast for a secret role too.

It was recently revealed that The Fantastic Four will be including Marvel Comics character Shalla-Bal as the Silver Surfer, so who exactly is she?

Who John Malkovich Could Be Playing In The Fantastic Four

The actor is known for movies like in the line of fire and burn after reading.

With a major talent like Malkovich joining The Fantastic Four , chances are high that he will play a central role in the Phase 5 installment. Since it has been reported that The Fantastic Four's main villain will be Galactus , it wouldn't be shocking if that is who the Academy-Award-nominated actor is portraying in the MCU. Even though there is always the chance that he could play someone else, there are a lot of good reasons for why Malkovich would be a good fit to play Galactus.

Given how Galactus' only live-action appearance was a missed opportunity, tapping Malkovich as the big bad would be a major first step in getting the character right in The Fantastic Four . Not only is Malkovich a gifted actor, but his voice alone would be a terrific fit as the iconic Fantastic Four villain. Since Galactus will most likely be rendered through CGI, it wouldn't require Malkovich to have to sign on for a role that would be too physically demanding.

To this point, The Fantastic Four cast is shaping up to be pretty solid for the reboot. There will likely be more characters and cast members added before principal photography gets going. Hopefully, more details on Malkovich's mystery role - and who exactly is playing Galactus - in The Fantastic Four will be revealed sooner rather than later.

The Fantastic Four (2025)

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.

Source: Deadline

an image, when javascript is unavailable

Marvel’s ‘The Fantastic Four’ Adds John Malkovich

John Malkovich has joined Marvel ‘s “ The Fantastic Four ” in an undisclosed role, Variety has confirmed. The veteran actor joins Pedro Pascal (Reed Richards, aka Mr. Fantastic), Vanessa Kirby (Sue Storm, aka the Invisible Woman), Joseph Quinn (Johnny Storm, aka the Human Torch) and Ebon Moss-Bachrach (Ben Grimm, aka the Thing) as Marvel’s First Family, along with Julia Garner as Shalla-Bal, a version of the Silver Surfer, and Paul Walter Hauser.

Popular on Variety

Matt Shakman (“WandaVision,” “Monarch: Legacy of Monsters”) is directing the film from a script by Eric Pearson, Josh Friedman, Jeff Kaplan and Ian Springer, with Peter Cameron (“WandaVision”) also contributing writing to the project. Marvel Studios chief Kevin Feige is producing.

“The Fantastic Four” is scheduled to open on July 25, 2025.

Deadline first reported the news .

More From Our Brands

Watch paramore perform ‘burning down the house’ live in paris, drew barrymore’s bucolic hamptons retreat can be yours for $8.4 million, wnba taps delta airlines as charter flights this season, the best loofahs and body scrubbers, according to dermatologists, is law & order: organized crime preparing to lose a stabler read episode 12 recap, verify it's you, please log in.

Cast & crew
User reviews

Back to Black

The life and music of Amy Winehouse, through the journey of adolescence to adulthood and the creation of one of the best-selling albums of our time. The life and music of Amy Winehouse, through the journey of adolescence to adulthood and the creation of one of the best-selling albums of our time. The life and music of Amy Winehouse, through the journey of adolescence to adulthood and the creation of one of the best-selling albums of our time.