Pedro Pascal might be the only actor alive who’s legally allowed to be in three movies at once without violating some sort of cloning law. Walk into a cinema right now and there’s a good chance you’ll be greeted by not one, not two, but three Pedro Pascal posters stacked side by side like he owns the place. A viral clip on social media even shows the trio proudly displayed in one theater lobby. One Facebook user summed it up best: “Bro working off 60 hour weeks.” Another added, “The dude is WORKING OT.” No lies detected.
At 50, Pascal is racking up screen time like it’s a competition—currently starring in The Materialist, Ari Aster’s Eddington, and The Fantastic Four: First Steps. And let’s not forget, he’s already booked for next year with both The Mandalorian and Grogu and Avengers: Doomsday. That’s six franchises if you’re counting, and that’s not even including Game of Thrones, Narcos, or The Last of Us. He’s either building an empire or just really hates taking naps.
Thankfully, The Fantastic Four: First Steps, Pascal’s latest superhero outing, is actually crushing it. It opened to a domestic haul of $118 million and added another $100 million internationally for a global debut of $220 million. That’s a better opening than expected, and enough to knock Superman out of the top box office spot after a two-week reign. You’d think audiences were over superhero movies, but apparently they’re not over Pedro.
What’s helped First Steps is its decision to go full standalone. No multiverse confusion. No “you had to watch eight other movies and two Disney+ shows to get this.” It’s a clean entry point for newcomers, and that’s rare in a Marvel world that’s been accused of making things too complicated. Recent flops like Eternals and Thunderbolts (which only scraped together $382 million globally) show that not even the MCU is immune to audience burnout. But First Steps seems to have sidestepped the fatigue, for now.
Not everything is sunshine and box office gold, though. Pascal’s off-screen antics have raised some eyebrows (and not in a charming way). Clips of him getting overly touchy during interviews, especially with costar Vanessa Kirby, have gone viral. And a resurfaced video of him stroking Willem Dafoe’s wife’s face while the actor stood by didn’t exactly help. “And y’all wonder why he has f**king anxiety,” one commenter joked. Maybe it’s the constant press tour grind. Maybe it’s just Pedro being Pedro.
Still, controversy doesn’t seem to be slowing his momentum. Critics have been surprisingly kind to First Steps, some even throwing out five-star reviews, which is rare praise for a Marvel flick these days. And while some fans might be reaching Pedro Pascal saturation, the industry clearly isn’t.
So, where does he go from here? If James Gunn wants to inject some life into the DCU, maybe it’s time to call in Pedro. If nothing else, he’ll probably say yes, if he has time between shooting three other blockbusters, of course.
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