‘Fantastic Four’ Reboot Cast: Michael B. Jordan Finally Answers Johnny Storm Casting Critics! Is It A Racist Issue?

The "Fantastic Four" reboot has placed itself in the controversial issues list by casting Michael B. Jordan as Johnny Storm AKA the Human Torch.

Jordan has already earned respect for his acting chops via "Fruitvale Station." However, it was his role in "Chronicle" that caused director Josh Trank to see that he was fit to be a superhero. He had that certain 'swagger' about him.

That's why some criticism will not make him back down. Not a bit. The actor spoke to Cinefilos (transcribed by JoBlo):

"It was expected. You kinda know going into it that people are used to seeing something one way, it's a continuity thing more than anything. People don't like change too much. But annoyed? Eh, you just kinda accept it, it is what it is. You can't make everybody happy. You just gotta accept that and know. I'm an actor, I have to do my job. I'm going to do my job the best I can and the way I've been doing it my entire life, my entire career. I grew up a comic book guy, I read comic books as a kid growing up, and the Fantastic Four/Human Torch is one of my favorite characters so I'm going to give it my everything. I can't wait. I don't really let it bother me at all. I just want to go into it and do the best job I can. We'll see what happens."

Jordan was aware that Johnny Storm is white, and that he has a sister, Sue Storm, who is also white. He anticipated that there would be some questions. Yet he still took the role because:

"The Human Torch is, 'yknow, that's fun. That's going to be a good time...To play a superhero? That's dreams coming true. It's not going to be hard. It's going to be fun to kind of show a side of me that I don't really get to show on screen, to be a little bit lighter, funnier, just more personality. It's going to be fun."

Most people will call racism on this one, but the critics claim that it's just about continuity and adherence to the original source. However, this is already the nth comic book based movie and viewers should understand that the comic book stories cannot be perfectly portrayed on screen due to the realities of filmmaking.

Let's see if the other casting choices will receive severe backlash. Whether or not it happens, the directors and writers will always defend their creative choices.