The Fantastic Four: 10 Best Marvel Characters Natasha Lyonne Could Play

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Summary

Natasha Lyonne has been cast in an undisclosed role in Marvel Studios' much-anticipated The Fantastic Four reboot.
Orange is the New Black, Russian Doll, and Poker Face star Natasha Lyonne is known for her distinctive voice and tough persona.
Natasha Lyonne could bring the likes of Medusa, Sharon Ventura, Frankie Raye, or Alicia Masters into the MCU's The Fantastic Four.

Natasha Lyonne has joined the cast of Marvel Studios' The Fantastic Four in an undisclosed role, so she could be bringing any number of brilliant Marvel Comics characters into the live-action MCU. Natasha Lyonne first came to prominence in the 1990s with small roles in Everybody Says I Love You, Slums of Beverley Hills, and American Pie, but achieved international recognition for her portrayal of Nicky Nichols in Netflix's Orange is the New Black. Lyonne has recently starred in acclaimed shows Russian Doll and Poker Face, and has become one of the most celebrated actors of her generation.
On May 15, 2024, Deadline reported that Natasha Lyonne has joined The Fantastic Four, though the exact nature of her MCU role hasn't been revealed. Lyonne joins Pedro Pascal, Vanessa Kirby, Joseph Quinn, Ebon Moss-Bachrach, Julia Garner, Ralph Ineson, Paul Walter Hauser, and John Malkovich in The Fantastic Four's incredibly strong cast, with the former four portraying the Fantastic Four team itself. While nothing has been revealed about Natasha Lyonne's role in The Fantastic Four, there are many brilliant characters from Marvel Comics' Fantastic Four stories that she would be perfect for in the live-action MCU.
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10 Doctor Doom Marvel Studios Could Gender Swap Doctor Doom For The Fantastic Four

In a wild twist, Natasha Lyonne has been half-seriously theorized to be playing a female version of Doctor Doom in The Fantastic Four, breaking a 63-year-long Marvel tradition of the masked Latverian villain being depicted as male. This comes following the news that Julia Garner will portray Shalla-Bal, a female Silver Surfer from Marvel Comics, in The Fantastic Four, rather than the movie introducing Norrin Radd's Silver Surfer. While this casting may seem unorthodox, The Fantastic Four's suspected setting could give it some weight.
Doctor Doom Live-Action Appearances
Portrayed By
The Fantastic Four (1994) (Unreleased)
Joseph Culp
Fantastic Four (2005)
Julian McMahon
Fantastic Four: Rise of the Silver Surfer (2007)
Julian McMahon
Fantastic Four (2015)
Toby Kebbell
Julia Garner's casting as Shalla-Bal's Silver Surfer, alongside other details, has informed theories that The Fantastic Four will take place in an alternate universe to the MCU's main continuity. This means that The Fantastic Four's version of Doctor Doom may not be the MCU's official iteration. This creates the opportunity for Marvel Studios to play with the character, perhaps allowing Natasha Lyonne to portray Doctor Doom.

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9 Medusa Natasha Lyonne Could Bring Inhumans Fully Into The MCU Close After Anson Mount portrayed Black Bolt, the King of the Inhumans, in the alternate universe of Earth-838 in 2022's Doctor Strange in the Multiverse of Madness, it's possible that The Fantastic Four's alternate world could debut more Inhumans. This could lead to Natasha Lyonne being cast as the Inhuman Queen, Medusa, who was gifted with prehensile hair during Terrigenesis, similarly to the Medusa of Greek mythology. Lyonne's trademark red hair makes her a shoo-in for the role of Medusa in the MCU.
Marvel Studios has shied away from introducing Inhumans into the MCU's main continuity after the monumental failure of Marvel Television's Inhumans series. However, the MCU's recent exploration of the multiverse has allowed Inhumans to emerge, so these characters could be fleshed out more faithfully in the MCU proper. Following Serinda Swan's portrayal of Medusa, it would be great to see Natasha Lyonne reinvent the character.

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8 Tara Richards' Huntara Natasha Lyonne Could Portray Reed Richards' Half-Sister

First seen in 1993's Fantastic Four #377, Tara Richards' Huntara is the daughter of Reed Richards' father, Nathaniel Richards, who was conceived after Nathaniel made his way to an alternate universe. This makes Huntara Mister Fantastic's half-sister, which could be an exciting and powerful role for Natasha Lyonne. This would reunite Lyonne and Reed Richards actor Pedro Pascal after both voiced characters in animated sitcom HouseBroken, and could provide an excellent opportunity to explore Richards' family history.
Another of Nathaniel Richards' descendants in Marvel Comics is his namesake, Nathaniel Richards, a.k.a. Kang the Conqueror. Despite Jonathan Majors' firing from Marvel Studios, Kang is still expected to play a role in the MCU's future, so expanding his familial relationships with the likes of Reed Richards and Huntara could add complexity to his story. This would, however, perhaps be an unorthodox role for Natasha Lyonne.
Tara Richards' Huntara was originally introduced as an antagonist to the Fantastic Four, but eventually became a bona fide hero, and even formed her own Fantastic Four team.
7 Greer Grant Nelson's Tigra Tigra Became A Prominent Superhero In Marvel Comics

Greer Grant Nelson, after a brief stint as the crime-fighting Cat, was mutated into the superpowered tiger-woman Tigra in Marvel Comics. This could present a very powerful role for Natasha Lyonne in the MCU, particularly since Lyonne would be perfect at delivering Tigra's hardened persona as a seasoned crime-fighter and enhanced individual. Shortly after becoming Tigra, Nelson formed a close bond with the Fantastic Four, and she even fought against Doctor Doom, who has been speculated to appear in The Fantastic Four.
Natasha Lyonne debuting as Tigra in The Fantastic Four could hint at her having a bright future in the MCU, as the cat-like hero has fought alongside many of the Marvel Universe's varied heroes. This could lead to her appearing in future projects featuring the Fantastic Four, the Avengers, the Midnight Sons, and the X-Men, giving the acclaimed actor a more substantive Marvel Studios role.

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6 Rhona Burchill's Mad Thinker Rhona Burchill Became The Mad Thinker In Marvel's Ultimate Universe

The Fantastic Four being set in an alternate universe opens the door for some of Marvel Comics' alternate characters to appear. This could include Ultimate Marvel's version of the Mad Thinker, Rhona Burchill, which could be a great casting choice for Natasha Lyonne. Burchill became the Mad Thinker of Earth-1610 after using some of her brother's brain matter to increase her own intelligence, spurred on by jealousy over Reed Richards getting into the Baxter Building Program for gifted children instead of her.
Casting Natasha Lyonne as Rhona Burchill could see the acclaimed actor portray a villain in the MCU, which she has proven more than capable of delivering. Lyonne has portrayed morally-questionable characters in many projects over the years, including All About Evil, Orange is the New Black, and Antibirth, so it would be great to see her put a sinister twist on Rhona Burchill's Mad Thinker in the MCU.
Marvel Comics' main universe's Mad Thinker was introduced in 1963's Fantastic Four #15, and was a man later known as Julius, who wanted to steal the Fantastic Four's technology from the Baxter Building.
5 Sharon Ventura's She-Thing Natasha Lyonne's Sharon Ventura Could Connect The Fantastic Four To A Phase 4 Mystery Close Natasha Lyonne being cast as Sharon Ventura in the MCU's The Fantastic Four would be an inspired casting choice, as this would see Lyonne play opposite Ebon Moss-Bachrach's Ben Grimm, a.k.a. the Thing, as a potential love interest. In Marvel Comics, wrestler Sharon Ventura became inspired by the Thing and signed up to a program run by the Power Broker to grant humans enhanced abilities. Ventura was later exposed to cosmic rays, which caused her to take on a similar appearance to the Thing, bringing the pair closer together.
Emily VanCamp's Sharon Carter was revealed to be the MCU's Power Broker in The Falcon and the Winter Soldier, but this evolution hasn't been addressed since. The Fantastic Four could solve this problem if Sharon Ventura finds Carter to receive superhuman powers. If Ventura becomes She-Thing in The Fantastic Four, Natasha Lyonne's iconic voice would be perfect for the troubled hero.

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4 Alyssa Moy Alyssa Moy Dated Reed Richards At University

Alyssa Moy would be an interesting character for Natasha Lyonne to bring into the MCU, but one who could complicate The Fantastic Four's storyline in some interesting ways. While studying at the University of Vienna, Alyssa Moy and Reed Richards, two super-geniuses, met and dated for a time, though this relationship ended as Alyssa wanted to spread her genius genes further than just in her and Richards' highly-intelligent gene pool. Alyssa later returned, posing a problem for Reed Richards and Sue Storm's relationship.
Natasha Lyonne and Pedro Pascal are two powerhouse performers, so it would be great to see them play opposite each other in the MCU's The Fantastic Four. With only four years between them, their ages also match up well to be past lovers from their university days. This means Natasha Lyonne could be introduced to the MCU to pose problems for the Fantastic Four's family dynamic.

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3 Frankie Raye's Nova The Fantastic Four Could Debut Another Herald Of Galactus

Marvel Studios has already confirmed the casting of Ralph Ineson as The Fantastic Four's Galactus, with Julia Garner being introduced as the planet-eater's Herald, Shalla-Bal's Silver Surfer. While Shalla-Bal could be the only Herald of Galactus introduced in the MCU's Phase 6, others, including Norrin Radd and Terrax the Tamer, have been rumored to appear, and Frankie Raye's Nova could join them. This could see Natasha Lyonne bring an immensely powerful and morally-gray character into the MCU.
After being doused with chemicals from the original Human Torch android by her stepfather, the Torch's creator, Phineas Horton, Frankie Raye received powers similar to Johnny Storm's Human Torch, whom she briefly dated. However, after a brief stint with the Fantastic Four, Raye became a Herald of Galactus, and became even more powerful as Nova. Natasha Lyonne would be great at delivering the brashness of this incredible cosmic character in the MCU.

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2 HERBIE (Or Roberta) Natasha Lyonne Has The Perfect Voice For The Fantastic Four's Robot Assistants

The Fantastic Four's retro robot assistant, HERBIE, was confirmed to be involved in the MCU's The Fantastic Four reboot in Marvel Studios' Valentine's Day cast reveal. Despite being revealed to be included in the project in February 2024, HERBIE's voice actor still hasn't been revealed, meaning every new actor who has been cast in the project, including Paul Walter Hauser, John Malkovich, and now Natasha Lyonne, have been theorized to be the voice of HERBIE. Lyonne has a very distinctive voice, so this could be inspired casting.
If not voicing HERBIE in The Fantastic Four, Natasha Lyonne could perhaps voice another of the team's robot assistants, Roberta. Roberta hasn't been confirmed to appear in The Fantastic Four, but she was introduced to Marvel Comics as the robot receptionist for the Baxter Building, so it makes sense that she would be included in the project. Natasha Lyonne could bring a sense of comedy and wit to Roberta or HERBIE in the MCU, making either robot character incredibly memorable.
HERBIE debuted in Marvel Comics in 1979's Fantastic Four #209, while Roberta followed two years later in 1981's Fantastic Four #239.
1 Alicia Masters Natasha Lyonne Could Play Ben Grimm's Love-Interest Close The most popular and likely casting choice for Natasha Lyonne in the MCU is that of Alicia Masters, Ben Grimm's long-time love-interest and eventual wife in Marvel Comics. Despite being blind, Alicia Masters is a talented sculptor, who can create lifelike models of individuals simply through touch and memory. Alicia's blindness allows Ben Grimm, a.k.a. the Thing, to feel more comfortable around her, as he is frequently ashamed of his rock-like appearance, and worries about how people may perceive him.
Natasha Lyonne is the perfect candidate to bring Alicia Masters into the MCU as a tough Jewish New Yorker, allowing her to bounce perfectly off Ebon Moss-Bachrach, the first Jewish actor to portray the famously-Jewish Ben Grimm. This would also provide the opportunity for Marvel Studios to debut Alicia Masters' villainous father in The Fantastic Four, with many fan-casting John Malkovich as the sinister Puppet Master.

The Fantastic Four (2025) Not Yet Rated ActionAdventure Sci-FiSuperhero 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 Upcoming MCU Movies
Release Date
Deadpool & Wolverine
July 26, 2024
Captain America: Brave New World
February 14, 2025
Thunderbolts*
May 5, 2025
The Fantastic Four
July 25, 2025
Blade
November 7, 2025
Avengers 5
May 1, 2026
Avengers: Secret Wars
May 7, 2027

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