Today on Yahoo there was a rumor announcement that Chronicle star Michael B Jordan is in contention to play Johnny Storm in Josh Tank’s reboot of Fantastic Four. As surprisingly decent that Chronicle was there is a lot of controversy around this young star playing the Marvel wise crack character.
In 2005 Chris Evans was cast as the role of The Human Torch, and also starred in the sequel which featured the silver surfer. it should come as no surprise that it is completely out of the question to have him reprise this role because he is now the star of Captain America. This whole concept leads into one of my biggest pet peeves of comic book films. You CANNOT have one actor play two roles. Falling in tangent with this statement is Ryan Reynolds performance as both Green Lantern and Deadpool. I was slightly less upset about this appearance due to the fact that the roles resided in different comic universes. However, for new fans who are not familiar with the comics the whole combination of faces can be utterly confusing.
This being said, it is absolutely appropriate for a recast. On paper Jordan has put in the work on screen already to be cast. Being featured in The Wire and also Friday Night Lights as well as being the star of Chronicle, he is no stranger to Hollywood. However the buzz about him playing this role has nothing to do with his acting ability but more, the color of his skin. Traditionally in the comic world Johnny Storm is white. Color-blind casting has been put into effect more than once in previous Marvel works. These roles such as Michael Clark Duncan playing Kingpin in Daredevil and Jamie Foxx playing Electro in the Amazing Spiderman 2, yet both roles have been portrayed as villains. Samuel L. Jackson has also portrayed Nick Fury, the commander of S.H.I.E.L.D was also originally written as white, yet he was not super powered… or yet to be seen on screen. Another valid point has been brought in as to who will play the notoriously gorgeous sister, Sue Storm the Invisible Woman? Will she be casted as a woman of color too? There is definitely going to be a lot of buzz about this.
I personally see no problem in this. So long as the script is written in good faith and paying homage to who Storm’s character is then there would be no reason to say that casting Jordan is going against the comics. The same can be said about any role. I feel like any superhero can be portrayed by anyone so long as the actor has a grasp of the history of the character and masters their dialogue. The fact that this is even a debate is kind of a travesty. I can understand for fan boys and fan girls who are anal retentive about things being perfectly crafted to pop up off of a page and onto the screen, however we all know how that goes. It leaves the cautiously optimistic angry and wanting more. It’s a medium transfer. The comic is never going to be the exact same as the film. Open up some of that willful suspension of disbelief and enjoy it for what it is.