There’s been a lot of bitching and harumphing around casting for Josh Trank’s new Fantastic Four reboot, most of it centered around actor Michael B. Jordan in the role of Johnny Storm.
Of course, none of that bitching and harumphing has to do with the fact that Michael B. Jordan is black.
Oh no…of course not, upset fans say. Johnny’s white in the comics, they say, so he should be white in the movie. And what about his sister Sue, played by incredibly white actress Kate Mara? How’s that gonna work, moan the incredulous fanboys.
Well, one person who isn’t getting hung up on all that drama is the guy who last played the FF’s matchstick, Chris Evans.
In an interview with the NY Daily News and later reported on Crave film site ComingSoon, Evans said he’s looking forward to seeing an actor of Jordan’s caliber sink his teeth into his old part.
“It’s so funny, you almost feel precious over the role that you don’t want someone else to do it..But when you hear someone phenomenal is doing it, it’s very exciting like you almost can’t wait….I couldn’t even give that guy any advice if I wanted, that guy is so good. It’s exciting to see what he’s going to do, because I know he’s going to reinvent it in a way that I could never have imagined…It’s almost like we’re sharing, the character is ours. I feel like I’m connected with him in a way, It’s a nice feeling.”
And to top it all off, the pair even posed for a nice little Torch confab posted to Jordan’s Instagram feed…
Evans last played the Torch in 2007’s Fantastic Four: Rise of the Silver Surfer, but has obviously stayed in the Marvel family as Captain America.
So yeah…the Human Torch is gonna be played by a black guy in a movie. Relax, disgruntled naysayers…it’s all gonna be okay…
