Ioan Gruffudd starred as Reed Richards/Mister Fantastic in 2005’s Fantastic Four and the 2007 sequel, Fantastic Four: Rise of the Silver Surfer, and with the new Fantastic Four film recently hitting theaters, he’s reflecting on how there was supposed to be a third film in the early ’00s series and why it didn’t happen.

Long before Pedro Pascal stretched his limbs as Reed Richards/Mister Fantastic in “Fantastic Four: The First Steps,” it was Ioan Gruffudd who led Marvel’s first family in 2005’s “Fantastic Four” and 2007’s “Fantastic Four: Rise of the Silver Surfer.

"The mindset was that we were going to do three, and I think the second movie was equally successful as the first and equally enjoyable for the fans," Gruffud told Vulture