John Krasinski took that Reed Richards cameo to even out his 'super-villain' exploits in 'The Office'

Whether or not he ends up reprising the character of Reed Richards for the upcoming Fantastic Four reboot, John Krasinski has still found peace of mind after his brief stint as the leading member of Marvel's First Family in the big screen follow-up to Doctor Strange.

Appearing as a guest on The Tonight Show Starring Jimmy Fallon Tuesday evening, the actor/writer/director/producer joked that the main reason he accepted the Multiverse of Madness cameo was to atone for his sins as The Office's prank-happy Jim Halpert. "They're on to me because I played it as a super-villain," he said in reference to a prominent internet fan theory, which states that Jim is the true antagonist of the hit NBC sitcom. "That's why I did Fantastic Four, to balance it out. I had already done the villain, so..."

Watch the full interview below:

Mr. Fantastic only appears for a handful of minutes in the Doctor Strange sequel as a leading member of the Illuminati of Earth-838. "I think the original lineup was close to this final one, only because that felt like the most, 'Ok, well, here’s the craziest version. There’s no way we’ll actually get to do this,'" Multiverse of Madness screenwriter Michael Waldron revealed during a conversation with SYFY WIRE. "But then, lo and behold, by the end, we actually were [doing it]."

Fantastic Four — slated to open in theaters everywhere on Nov. 8, 2024 — has yet to announce a director after Spider-Man vet Jon Watts parted ways with the film back in April (presumably to focus on his Star Wars show for Disney+). His replacement, along with an official cast list, is likely to be confirmed at D23 Expo in September. Emily Blunt, Seth Rogen, and Dacre Montgomery are among the big names rumored for Sue Storm, Ben Grimm, and Johnny Storm, respectively.

Recently chatting with The Hollywood Reporter, Marvel Studios President and MCU architect Kevin Feige basically confirmed that Fantastic Four would follow the Spider-Man: Homecoming rubric, I that it would side-step the traditional origin story format.  “A lot of people know this origin story," he said. "A lot of people know the basics. How do we take that and bring something that they’ve never seen before? We’ve set a very high bar for ourselves with bringing that to the screen.”

Despite being lightly grilled on the matter by Fallon, Krasinski refused to address his, or his wife's, potential future in the MCU, pretending to be hit by a "Marvel dart" that takes out any actor brazen enough to reveal spoilers about the shared comic book mythos.

Krasinski next appears in DC League of Super-Pets this Friday (July 29) as the voice of Superman. The writer-director of the blossoming A Quiet Place franchise explained that the star-studded animated flick is the first of his projects that his young daughters have been allowed to watch. "They loved it. They were laughing very, very hard," he said. "I think up until now, they didn't believe I was actually in the business, because they've never seen anything I've done ... They were like, 'Wow! You're not an accountant!'"

Doctor Strange in the Multiverse of Madness can currently be streamed on Disney+. The film can also be purchased on DVD, Blu-ray, and 4K Ultra HD formats with a maddening amount of bonus features — including a gag reel and director's commentary. Click here for more details.

You can watch Krasinski's most recent episode of The Tonight Show Starring Jimmy Fallon3 on Peacock.

If you're looking to binge The Office for a millionth time, it's streaming on Peacock (with extended cut episodes). Looking for more horror films that will make your spine tingle and blood curdle? You can currently catch Keith Thomas's Stephen King adaptation Firestarter on Peacock, Scott Derrickson's The Black Phone on VOD, and Jordan Peele's NOPE on the big screen.