Fox has set the final key piece for its Fantastic Four reboot.  Chronicle director Josh Trank signed on to take the helm of The Fantastic Four a few years ago, but movement on the project has been slow to say the least.  However, with a June 19, 2015 release date looming, the principal cast was finally firmed up in February with Miles Teller (Mr. Fantastic), Michael B. Jordan (Human Torch), Kate Mara (Invisible Girl), and Jamie Bell (The Thing).  Clearly the cast is quite young, and so when talk turned to who would play the iconic comics villain Dr. Doom, the shortlist included similarly aged actors.  Now, with filming set to begin this spring, Fox has made its decision and zeroed in on Wrath of the Titans actor Toby Kebbell to take on the antagonist role.  Hit the jump for more.

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Image via Warner Bros.

Per Variety, 20th Century Fox has settled on Kebbell to play Victor von Doom aka Doctor Doom in The Fantastic Four.  After roles in films like Prince of Persia and RocknRolla, Kebbell has become more prominent as of late with supporting turns in the thriller The East and the fantasy sequel Wrath of the Titans.  Most recently, the English actor landed a key role as an ape in Fox’s upcoming sequel Dawn of the Planet of the Apes and he also has a supporting role in Universal’s Warcraft.

A number of other actors were considered for the role of Doom in addition to Kebbell, including Boardwalk Empire thesp Jack Huston and Harry Potter alum Domhnall Gleeson.  Having just come off of Apes, though, one imagines Fox sparked to Kebbell’s work in that film and decided he would be a solid fit for the Fantastic Four villain as well.

Not much is known about Trank’s take on the Marvel Comics series, but it will reportedly be based on the Ultimate Fantastic Four run, which envisioned the titular team as a younger group of characters and retooled their origin story.  Though the pic doesn’t begin filming for another few weeks, the studio has already announced a 2017 release date for The Fantastic Four 2, so Kebbell’s role could possibly be recurring should the franchise take off.

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