Cillian Murphy As Doctor Doom? Oppenheimer Star Breaks Silence On MCU Fan-Casting

Since the beginning of comic book adaptations, no property has been more tragic than the Fantastic Four. As one of the groups that spearheaded Marvel comics at the time of its inception, the superpowered team has just not been able to find its footing in live action. From the often-maligned Jessica Alba films of the mid-aughts to the unfortunate implosion of the Josh Trank film, "Fantastic Four" has had nothing but bad luck.

Hopefully, the third time is the charm and fans will finally get what they deserve with the upcoming film developed for the MCU. And what they deserve is a comic-accurate Doctor Doom. Previous film adaptations have failed to deliver just what a formidable and fascinating character Doom is, but there is an obvious fix for that. A recent Instagram post imagined what it would be like if "Oppenheimer" actor Cillian Murphy wore the iconic mask in "Fantastic Four." Fans were more than impressed, prompting Josh Horowitz to question Murphy about it on his podcast, "Happy Sad Confused." After all the acclaim Murphy has received in film and television, would he consider returning to the comic book world?

"It's always about the script," Murphy answered diplomatically. "If someone sends me a script, I'll read it. You never know what turns up." The actor's work in independent films seems to suggest that is the space he's comfortable in, but according to Murphy, you should never say never.

When Cillian Murphy first auditioned for "Batman Begins," he couldn't have imagined the long partnership that would come out of it. The actor who played the villainous Dr. Crane initially auditioned for Bruce Wayne but didn't hold out hope he would get it. Instead, Christopher Nolan cast him as a character who would reoccur throughout the trilogy and also spawn further collaborations in the future. Murphy went on to appear in Nolan films such as "Inception" and "Dunkirk" before he was finally cast as the title character in "Oppenheimer," one of his biggest roles to date. This unexpected journey is exactly why he isn't immediately turning down the notion of returning to the superhero realm.

"That's what I love about this business," Murphy continued. "I had no idea that [Christopher Nolan] was gonna call me in '21 with ['Oppenheimer']. It just happens, and that's the beauty of this business. It's so unpredictable and wild." As a serious career actor, Murphy will sign up as long as he believes in the project. 

"Fantastic Four" isn't the only project he would be willing to contribute to. With talks of "Barbie" being so prevalent, Variety reported that he would also come to the table for the role of Ken, so long as there was a good story attached. "Sure, yeah," Murphy responded to the query. "Let's read the script, let's have a conversation."