Is Austin Butler about to trade in his blue suede shoes for a human torch?
Rumor has it that the young actor who recently portrayed Elvis Presley is angling for the role of Johnny Storm/Human Torch in Fantastic Four, the upcoming and much-anticipated film by Marvel Studios.

This week, Jeff Sneider revealed on The Hot Mic podcast that Butler’s agents have been pushing Marvel to award him the coveted role. Fantastic Four, which hopes to make its debut in early 2025, will be directed by Matt Shakman of WandaVision based on a script by Jeff Kaplan and Ian Springer. Jon Watts of Spider-Man: No Way Home was originally going to direct the new film until he dropped out of the project.

It’s still not a sure bet that Butler will be taking on the role since the official cast lineup has not yet been announced, says Marvel’s top honcho Kevin Feige. Nor is it certain whether John Krasinski will be reprising his role in the film.

Krasinski had recently debuted as a variant of Reed Richards/Mr. Fantastic in Doctor Strange in the Multiverse of Madness.

In his recent podcast, Sneider noted that Fantastic Four and X-Men are Marvel’s “two crown jewels coming up,” explaining that “all the actors in town want to be part of these two franchises.”

If he is selected for the role, it would be yet another accolade for Butler, whose Elvis role marked his first break into a major production. Reports indicate that he may win at least an Oscar nomination for his performance as the 1950s-era rock-‘n-roll icon. He’s already received an AAFTA award for Best Actor and a Golden Globe nomination for that role.


The 31-year-old Butler, who appeared in a number of teen sitcoms as an adolescent, made his Broadway debut in the 2018 revival of Eugene O’Neill’s The Iceman Cometh. He also played the role of Tex Watson in Quentin Tarantino’s 2019 film Once Upon a Time in Hollywood.

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