Michael B. Jordan Responds to Human Torch Rumors

all of these damn comments and not one "STRINGER, WHERES WALLACE" quote... Viners I am disappoint.

I dont see a problem with the idea of changing a character's race. That never bothered me. However, i dont think this guy is a good cast for Human Torch. There are really good casts out there, and I think directors/producers should be looking towards more of the leser known actors in Hollywood. Look how awesome Chris Hemsworth did. Before Thor, he had very minor roles in some rather okay films; now, he is of the upper echelon of 'A' list actors.

People bitched about that at the time too.

Im very cool with the change. this guy is a good actor. he can pull of johnny storm like characteristics I believe change is necessary in comics from time to time.Guess im in the outlier group./shrug

I hate unnecessary race changes too but some are okay. Samuel L. Jackson playing Nick Fury was okay because they based him off his Ultimate Marvel version. I think its okay when supporting characters change race like Perry White and Kingpin. But changing a lead character and not because there are no good enough actors in their race, is not going to work well. But also, Ra's al Ghul being white instead of middle eastern was perfectly okay because if you think about it, DC changed his race in the comic books too. In fact, Ra's changed his own race by putting his soul into White Ghost's body and making himself albino.

Human Torch gets turned black everyone loses their s**t, Jimmy Olsen becomes a girl and no one cares. This amuses me.

@chanceencounter: you saw that on reddit too? lol

Must be skrull johnny with shapeshifting powers

I don't remember hearing anybody complain about that

I don't really care about the race, they can even genderbend the characters if they want, the guy is just a bad pick even if they're planning on changing the character a bit, I just don't see him in a role like that, Electro is being played by Jamie Foxx and not many people I know are complaining because he's not a bad actor, race is not important as long as you know who you're picking to play the character, I mean, Marvel could bring up Dwayne Johnson to play Luke Cage and people would mind but it wouldn't be a bad pick or would it?

@joshmightbe: I remember reading complaints about a potential gender swap of Jimmy. Jenny is said to be his sister, so I imagine the complaints died down.

@thebigredcheese: Damn, well here's hoping if Jimmy is in it he gets crushed by falling debris or something.

He would be an awesome Johnny Storm. He was great in Chronicle and on Friday Night Lights.

why not? he's a good actor. i loved him in chronicle and frida night lights show'd us that nhe can play a guy similar to johnny. and he is a lesser known actor in hollywood lol like you said "Look how awesome Chris Hemsworth did. Before Thor, he had very minor roles in some rather okay films; now, he is of the upper echelon of 'A' list actors." it can happen again...

@notarandomguy: Dwayne Johnson would totally work as Luke Cage.

I agree. I'm Asian and I would prefer to stick to the source material as close as possible. It has nothing to do with race. Sometimes I think white people quickly join the bandwagon to change the race of the character because of their fear of appearing "racist" if they don't.

One of the joys of seeing comic book characters come to the big screen is to see them come to life as you've always seen them to be in the comics. So, it would a little disconcerting to see a bald fat actor being cast as Mr. Fantastic. Or how about George Takei as Professor X? Or a blond Superman?

When I first saw screen shots of Christopher Reeve as Superman, I thought, "Oh wow, he really looks like Superman!" and that got me more excited about the movie. Same with Patrick Stewart as Professor X.

A lot of times I'm okay with race changes. It didn't bother me that the Kingpin was black (as long as he was big/fat and bald), or that Alicia or Nick Fury was black or that Electro and Perry White will be black. For some reason I'm okay with those changes.

But I don't think I would like those changes with Sue and Johnny Storm.

@shadowx: Exactly!!! I've saying the same thing! Because I know a friend who is dark skinned and his brother is light skinned and they both have the same biological parents. It just the Dad is a light skinned Dominican while the mother is dark skinned Dominican. People have to started being educated. Interracial parents don't always make mixed colors in their children. Sometimes it one color or the other. I wanted to tell you this too @k4tzm4n since you mentioned them being step-siblings. They really don't need to be.

@geewhiz: George Takei as professor X AND Ian McKellen as Magneto? I'd watch that...

I didn't know that Jimmy Olsen will be a girl in the upcoming Man of Steel movie. I do not like this.

This.

Also the reason they need to change the race of a character is

1) It will bring in a bigger audience

2)Fox Studios doesn't own any Black Marvel heroes who are not X-Men.

They don't have Black Panther as an option, dur.

MBJ is a great actor! I really hope that he gets the part. Johnny Storm (unlike Captain America, Black Panther, or Shang Chi) doesn't need to be a certain race.

Forget the Torch. They should make Reed black. A strong, intelligent black family man at the head of a superhero team would be great.

@iceslick: thank you! I'm mixed myself, and sometimes i don't look like my older brother. I can actually go from really pale in the winter to really tan in the summer. (Mom is european and some Native American. My dad is Taino from puerto rico). I think it will be great if we get mixed siblings in a movie that can show what we are saying lol.

@snarkybits: i think george takei would actually be really good too. I like patrick stewart but i can see Takei pooling off the role.

<George Takei>Oh my....!</George Takei>

To me, the color of his skin doesn't really matter as long as he is still Sue's brother. I saw somewhere Sue is played by a white girl. If this is true, the movie better work or we got some kind of issue here. I thought Chis Evens was good choice in the last movie. He had the attitude down better then the other characters. Why not just use that again? Human Torch is a hotheaded ladies man with a little douchiness to him. Right now I can kind of seeing Ryan Locthe playing him well hahahahaha

I just don't understand how Johnny and Sue are still going to be considered siblings with different skin color. Thing could be black. I would be okay with that.

I want the movies to be as close to the comics as possible. I don't understand how that's racist. Comics are visual. However if they do go with a black actor Johnny I want a black actress for Sue too. The Fantastic Four visually always looked like a family, Johnny and Sue and the kids look alike. I don't agree with casting of Allison Williams from Girls either.

I actually really like the actress but If Johnny is in his mid twenties then Sue should be at least 30s. The dynamic of Sue and Johnny was always that she took on the mother role because their parents were dead. That dynamic doesn't work if both actors are clearly the same age.

Do it, Trank!

Keep true to the source material, though. Don't have them as stepsiblings, cast him as Johnny and Aisha Tyler as Sue? Lots of great actresses that could step into the role and cast Reed and Ben as white dudes. Don't address the skin color in any way, and let people be people.

@fallen_crippled: adopted.....step siblings.......

@wisesonac: But, he really isnt that good of an actor, and I absolutely never saw the arrogant but loveable personality that is reminiscent of Johnny Storm. Thats just my opinion. He was decent in Chronicle (which was a fairly good movie), but that was more due to the fact that his co-stars' kind of horrendous performance. His one good (almost great) role, was when he played a corner boy named Wallace, in the HBO series The Wire. And he has been around forever (since '99), unlike Chris Hemsworth, whom was barely recognisable prior to his contracts with Marvel. There are just better Human Torch actors than Michael B. Jordan.

Why not reverse the sex of Sue and Johnny Storm? Have Sue Storm become Sam Storm and be played by Michael B. Jordan and have Johnny Storm become Joanne Storm and be played by Lucy Liu.

@fallen_crippled: If you read my comment, I think you would understand. It is biologically possible if one parent is white and the other parent is black. I know a friend that has a black skin color and his brother has a white skin color and they have the same parents. Interracials don't always make mix colors.

Meh I'm rather indifferent. I mean they almost made Ultimate Thing black in the comics. To me it's not always about who plays the part it's how well they play the part. I didn't that Chris Evans could be Cap but I think he did a good job. As long they don't get a giant cloud to play Galactus.

@joshmightbe: I don't think you was there in uproar when Jimmy's sex change was announced for film. There was bitching all over the place.

In Thor Heimdall played by Idris Elba i found as a great choice. Lot of people didnt like the change but for me it worked. Johnny Storm on the other hand "hell no" his sister is by blood and there for the same race as her. If you start saying oh adopted or something along thos lines feels silly to me. If he is black than she has to be black. If He is Mexican she has to be also etc... just my feelings on the matter, but at the end of the day just make a good FF movie already the other two suked bawls!!!!

whoa whoa whoa whoa! People! I think we're missing the LARGER elepahant in the room..... THEY'RE Rebooting the Fantastic 4 film franchise! when did this happen. why did nobody tell me... I was like out of the vine for 5 doggy minutes and then this happens. Geez.

As for the topic at hand. Nothings been confirmed nor denied as everything is still in the VEEEEERY early pre-phase. So until then stop counting your chickens until they hatch. We can save this discussion in which people make comments and others respond to it as "racist" for another day.... or we could turn this into a humorous discussion regarding the various skin colours of Hulk, in which one person will make the comment that hulk cannot be black, and someone else will say "de fuck not? he's been everything eles :P"........ I may have been drinking before posting this :P

I can imagine it working if done well but I generally prefer sticking to the source material as close as possible. I'm okay with a little artistic license because it can make "old" things new and exciting but for the most part, I would prefer casting actors/actresses who look like the drawn characters.

NO NO NO NO NO NO NO NO NO NO NOOOOOO!!!!!

isn't humanity past tokenism yet?

All I can say is I hope Fox NEVER manages to get a Fantastic Four reboot off the ground and they are ultimately forced to give the rights to that franchise back to Marvel Studios just like they had to do with Daredevil. They are incompetent and no absolutely nothing about making proper films based on comics characters, and mind you this has nothing to do with Mr. Jordan, I would really just prefer to see Marvel's first family back home where they belong done right! Not some half assed thrown together film that I know in my heart this is bound to be, made by a studio that's just out to make a quick buck!

I really don't care what they do in the movies, I just hate when the changes find the way back to the comics.

Every one is using the Nick Fury example, forgetting the real Fury was replaced in the comics by his black son to match the popular movies. If this were true and turned out to be a hit, we're one alternate reality story away from black Johnny Storm in the comics.

While race may not be important to the character, when you hear the name "Johnny Storm" or "Wolverine", etc, you have an idea of what to expect from the character. If you've been reading the comics from day 1, then if all of a sudden he is cast as a black man, you might be thinking, "Johnny Storm, where is he?! I can't figure out which person is playing him. Is his invisible or something?" *shrugs* Something else to consider, if race doesn't matter, then why not have a different gender? I'm sure there are women nicknamed Johnny, at the very least there are unisexual names like Jack [Jonathan/Jacqueline], Taylor or Tyler, Alex, Charlie, etc. Or why not have the person obese or something. Just because they're fit in the comics doesn't mean they have to be in the movies

We need more diverse superheroes.

As much as I loved the Avengers movie, it's a little distracting to have such a white cast. As cool as Nick Fury is, especially with Samuel (I'm the coolest mutha fucka in the room) Jackson playing him, it would be nice to see a more diverse cast going forward. Not just in the films, but in the books as well. Yeah one of them is a demi-god, one of them is technically Russian, one is an unstoppable rage monster with green skin. But they're all written and performed from a white perspective.

i did...in friday night lights....thats his character exactly for alot of season four and 5. Arrogant but lovable. I know he was wallace. i loved him in the wire.shows me he's pretty versitle....check him out in red tails. complete opposite of one of his more noticeable roles(friday night lights). And we werent talking about how long he has been in the industry.we were talking about "and I think directors/producers should be looking towards more of the lesser known actors in Hollywood." not how long he has been in the industry. he barely gets reconized like chris hemsworth before thor. im sure most people had to google Michael when they heard the rumors.

Solution: Make a Black Panther movie.

Make a Static Shock movie.

Make a movie starring a Black hero instead of retconning peoples' races all the time.

This is starting to infuriate me.

Also, lets see more characters of color in comics. Not that hard to do DC. Look at how Bendis is handling Miles Morales. Come on.

This is just ridiculous.

I don't mind cuse i'm blqck. Cn't say the same for everyone else

jordan is human torch, just like chris evans was. they both have that charisma, good looks, and humor that goes with johnny. and jordan is a VERY talented actor and a role like this would do wonders for his career, if done right and a success, his face and name would be everywhere so i hope the director can work something out.

OMG you're so racist. There can be no other reason for you to be against it. Herp derp

Ugh, I really don't want this.

@snarkybits: totally true. unfortunately majority of the country have not been exposed to that fact they are used to seeing those with the dominant black gene (ie halle barry) they dont know about the blonde haired blue children that are also products of mixed race. kinda wish the kane chronicles would come out with a movie to shut them up. the parents of the lead are black and white and the son carter looks black and the daughter sadie looks white, blonde with blue eyes. sound like a certain fantastic four member?? genetics a total luck of the draw.