Natasha Lyonnemight have revealed her mystery character in Marvel’s upcomingThe Fantastic Four: First Steps. Lyonne joined the cast ofThe Fantastic Four: First Stepsin May 2024, yet her role in the Marvel Cinematic Universe was not confirmed. In December 2024, Lyonne voiced the original MCU character Byrdie inWhat If…?Season 3. The adult daughter of a variant Howard the Duck and Darcy Lewis, Byrdie’s status as a multiverse hero and a Watcher seemingly made her a potential candidate for who Lyonne would be playing inThe Fantastic Four: First Steps.But would Marvel introduce one of the stars of an upcoming blockbuster with a role in an animated anthology series? Many questions remain about who exactly Lyonne is playing in the upcoming MCU reboot remain up in the air.
While on the Red Carpet for the 2025 Independent Spirit Awards, Lyonne dropped an interesting detail about her role inFantastic Four: First Steps, one that might give a clue about her role. Talking toThe Hollywood Reporter, she said,“I’m inFantastic Four, so there is a lot of exercise training,“said Lyonne, but when the interviewer followed it up with who she was playing, she quickly deflected with a humorous answer, saying she was playing “Dwayne ‘The Rock’ Johnson.” She then said,“I’m under heavy NDA’s and I’m really sorry I said that, guys!“clearly referencing Marvel Studios.
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Lyonne might not have said who she is playing, but the reveal about exercise training might reveal some clues. It appears she is not providing the voice for the robot H.E.R.B.I.E., like many fans expected, and will be a physical presence on set. Later, while speaking withThe Hollywood Reporter, she said,“I love [the cast] and, like, Pedro [Pascal] and Ebon [Moss-Bachrach and I] go back, Ebon and I go back about 20 years or something. I always thought I was older than him and treated him like a kid. It turns out he is older than me, so that’s a relief. And John Malkovich, it’s pretty cool.“Name-dropping Pascal, Moss-Bachrach, and Malkovich might potentially reveal who Lyonne is playing while also showing some other major Marvel characters.
The Fantastic Four
Lyonne’s comments suggest that she could play Alicia Masters, the blind girlfriend and later wife of Ben Grimm / The Thing. Thanks to writers like Dan Slott and Ryan North, Alicia Masters has become the unofficial fifth member of the team and has become a more active role in the stories, which could hint that she will be playing Alicia Masters in the MCU. This could also suggest that John Malkovich is playing Phillip Masters, Alicia Masters' step-father, who is also The Fantastic Four villain, The Puppet Master.
However,Malkovich is instead rumored to be playing Ivan Kragoff/ The Red Ghost inThe Fantastic Four: First Steps, while Paul Walter Hauser is heavily rumored to play The Fantastic Four’s first villain, Harvey Elder / The Mole Man. A rumor is circulating thatThe Fantastic Four: First Stepswill see Pascal’s Reed Richards recruit various former Fantastic Four villains who are geniuses in their own right to become part of the Future Foundation to save the world from the threat of Galactus. If this is the case, Lyonne might be cast as another Fantastic Four villain and super genius, The Mad Thinker. While the original Marvel Comics version of The Mad Thinker is male, The Ultimate Comic Universe version is a female named Rhona Burchill. The Rhona Burchill version of The Mad Thinker previously appeared in the animated seriesIron Man: Armored Adventures.
Featuring The Mad Thinker, Red Ghost, and Mole Man as former Fantastic Four villains turned allies to save the world from the threat of Galactus certainly sounds compelling. Yet it feels like Lyonne playing Alicia Masters is more likely given how vital she is as a character to The Fantastic Four mythology. It certainly gives The Thing something more to fight to save their universe from Galactus andDoctor Doom inAvengers: DoomsdayandAvengers: Secret Wars.
Source:The Hollywood Reporter (YouTube)
The Fantastic Four: First Steps
