Identity Theft is Not a Joke: Rainn Wilson Eyes John Krasinski’s Marvel Equivalent Role in DCU

Rainn Wilson is ready for his next James Gunn collaboration, and it will be an epic one: Plastic Man. The underrated, silly, and insanely overpowered hero is the DC equivalent of Marvel’s famous Mister Fantastic, even though Plastic Man came 20 years before the F4 icon. Now, Wilson is already putting ideas in Gunn’s head as to how DC should focus on bringing him to the screens.

During a panel at Fan Expo Chicago (via Entertainment Weekly), Wilson revealed:

Now, The Office rivals are out to butt heads as the ultimate stretcher on screen, given John Krasinski’s short-lived cameo in Doctor Strange in the Multiverse of Madness. Though fans might not be happy with the casting, considering Wilson’s current age (nearly 60), the opportunity to scream “Identity theft is not a joke” at him is too good to pass up.

DC Is Not Ready for Rainn Wilson and James Gunn’s Next Collab After Super

Rainn Wilson and James Gunn’s Super (2010) redefined superhero movies. The film not only subverted the entire genre but also became one of Gunn’s lowest-rated movies on Rotten Tomatoes (undeservedly). However, all of that could change with Plastic Man, the project that Wilson has been touting for a long time to get made.

15 years ago, Hollywood was not ready for the ultraviolent, disturbing, satirical, sadistic, and renegade superhero movie. The woman-on-man r*pe scene certainly did not help the film’s image. But Gunn did not make Super to please fans. The film was meant to distress and subvert, and that it did aplenty.

However, the industry now has a new generation of audience who have turned passive, apathetic, and unfazed by such über-violent delights as The Boys. DC will crumble (in a good way!) if James Gunn inserts his unmatched humor and eccentricity into the already humorous and wildly eccentric Plastic Man.

Plastic Man v Mister Fantastic: Where Do the Similarities End?

Superficially speaking, Plastic Man and Mister Fantastic seem very similar in terms of powers and abilities. But a deeper exploration into their saga reveals that they are far from similar.

Plastic Man’s origin paints him as a petty crook who gains his powers from a freak chemical accident after a heist gone wrong. The incident shifts him to use his powers for good, often coming to the aid of other superheroes. But the Plastic Man’s dark humor, wild eccentricity, and epic silliness make him a rare icon of the comic book genre.

Not only is he pop culture’s silliest superhero, but also one of the most powerful to ever exist. Created by Jack Cole in 1941, Plastic Man has a fluid physiology that allows him to open holes in his body, transform into mobile objects, and change his molecular structure to look like a different person. There is no limit to his abilities, often shrinking himself down to a few inches, making himself as solid as a rock, or becoming taller than a skyscraper.

But it doesn’t end there. The superhero has such an extremely unique body chemistry that he once survived for 3,000 years, scattered into separate, individual molecules on the bottom of the Atlantic Ocean without decaying or being affected at all. He is impervious to telepathy, invulnerable to magic, indestructible since his body is no longer organic, and immortal.

Mister Fantastic is none of those things. Despite being imbued with cosmic radiation, the stretchable superhero has one ability that overshadows Plastic Man: his mind. Though Reed Richards is the smartest man alive, there are limits to how far he can stretch and how durable his body is under extreme tension. He is neither immortal nor indestructible, and recent MCU films have shown how easily he can be overpowered (by Wanda and Galactus).

Who do you think would win in a fight between Plastic Man and Mister Fantastic? Remember, it’s brain versus brawn.

Super (2010) is available to stream on AMC+ and The Roku Channel.