‘Fantastic Four’ Reboot cast Revealed!…A Black Johnny Storm?

February 21, 2014 Farid-ul-Haq

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The preparations for the Fantastic Four film reboot are well underway now that the cast has been revealed. Speculations about the cast have been floating around for months. However, a confirmation has been made. You might not like it, and it may come across as a bit confusing. But the truth can’t be changed and we all have to wait and see how the final product comes out when the film rolls into theaters next year.

Actor Michael B. Jordan posted a pic on his Instagram account with the words “Flame On”. There were rumors he would be playing Johnny Storm/The Human Torch, and now those have been confirmed. The actress Kata Mara went to twitter to announce her role as Sue Storm/Invisible Girl/Invisible Woman. Both actors will be joining Miles Teller (Dr. Reed Richards/Mister Fantastic) and Jamie Bell (Ben Grimm/The Thing) as the first superhero family.

Am I excited about the new casting? Well, that’s kind of tricky to answer. I was hoping for Emmy Rossum to get the part of Sue Storm because she was screen-tested for it. Her role on Shameless is a testament to her amazing acting skills.

The cast does seem quite young compared to the one in the Fantastic Four film that came out in 2005. Maybe the creators want to show the characters in their young age coping with their new powers? Going in a ‘new direction’ seems to be the case because Michael B. Jordan will be playing Johnny Storm. His casting might not sit well with fans of the comic series, especially when the character is also the brother of Sue Storm. Color-blind casting is always a good thing, but instead of introducing new comic POC characters and making films about characters that are already of color, it feels weird to change the ethnicity of already existing characters just to be more ‘representative’. Making both the Storm siblings colored would’ve been a more logical choice. So, I will have to wait and see how they are both related to each other and why it was decided to cast Michael B. Jordan in an iconic role.

The film is being developed by Fox and that means it will be separate from the Marvel Cinematic Universe.  Who knows, it might create a link to the X-Men film franchise, which Fox also has the rights to, later on?

The Fantastic Four reboot will be directed by Josh Trank (Chronicle) and is currently set for a June 19th, 2015 release. Let’s see if it gives Fox a successful superhero franchise like the X-Men and whether the fans accept the cast.

Share your comments regarding the casting below!

image from eonline.com

Author: Farid-ul-Haq

Farid has a Double Masters in Psychology and Biotechnology as well as an M.Phil in Molecular Genetics. He is the author of numerous books including Missing in Somerville, and The Game Master of Somerville. He gives us insight into comics, books, TV shows, anime/manga, video games, and movies.

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5 thoughts on “‘Fantastic Four’ Reboot cast Revealed!…A Black Johnny Storm?”

  1. I first off want to say that I am giving the show and the actors the benefit of the doubt until I see it.. but I am disappointed that Susan Storm’s role was not given to a WOC. I’m all for diversifying a cast of people, but they needed to go for it. This just makes it really obvious that he was cast ONLY for diversity’s sake.

    1. I think of all the criticism hurled at this film for casting, this is one that has me agreeing the most.

    2. ^^^Agreed and seconded^^^ Actresses that come to mind would be Tika Sumpter or KeKe Palmer. My money is on him being Sue’s adopted brother.

      1. I agree…have read a lot of comments, people questioning why both siblings weren’t of color? They will most probably play him as Sue’s adopted brother or maybe a half sibling (parents divorcing and having a kid with someone else), might give the film a reason to put in some family drama and reach the colored audience. Would’ve preferred them to show a real colored character in the film, rather than changing an already existing one.

        I remember Stan Lee not liking Andrew Garfield suggesting Spider-Man could be gay, etc. when Andrew said Spider-Man was a title and bigger than Pater Parker (or something like that) and then he had to say it was more of a philosophical thing he suggested. Because if Marvel doesn’t like to change an artists/creators vision, then making Johnny black seems to be only because they wanted a colored person in the FF and not make the whole team white. “Fine we cast Michael as Johnny, you got your colored character in FF, can we just move on with the film now” kind of thing. Really interested in seeing their reason when the movie comes out.

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