There’s always a lot of controversy over castings in movies, and never will there be a time when everyone is satisfied with an actor who is placed in any iconic role. I will admit, I do question a lot of castings that are unusual, like when Nicholas Cage was cast as Superman in the ill fated Superman Lives movie that never saw production…that’s a different post, I’ll go into that another time. But one of the big deals that a lot many comic geek fans have been questioning is Micheal B Jordan’s (don’t ever forget to put the ‘B’ in his name, or you’ll get a completely different person pop up) casting as Johnny Storm.
I never had problem with the casting of Johnny Storm. I have many other issues that stem from so many other elements. Like why is the rock creature from the Never Ending Story playing the Thing?
And why is the human version of the Thing (Ben Grimm) played by Jamie Bell, who admittedly is very hot, but looks tiny in comparison to how Ben actually looks and isn’t a brawler from Brooklyn? And why is the Thing fucking naked?! Blue shorts, that’s all they need. Seriously, his junk is destroyed when he becomes the Thing?
But recently, Stan Lee actually gave his opinion on this matter. He spoke with Entertainment Weekly:
“I thought it was a great idea!” Lee said, regarding Jordan’s role. “They [the critical fans] are outraged not because of any personal prejudice… They’re outraged because they hate to see any change made on a series and characters they had gotten familiar with. In ‘Spider-Man,’ when they got a new actor, that bothered them, even though it was a white actor. I don’t think it had to do with racial prejudice as much as they don’t like things changed…I think they’re gonna get to love this character,” he continued, “So I’m not the least bit worried about it. I always tried to pepper these groups with as much racial diversity as possible because that’s the way the world is.”
So what do you think? Is this a big deal? I hope the movie is well done, but I have a lot of fears and think that it may not do too well. But that is more because of the story and the direction that it looks like it is heading. I hope I am wrong though. Although I think that 20th Century Fox wussed out and should have cast Susan Storm as a black woman as well. In fact they should have. Fox is saying that Susan is ‘adopted,’ which is total B.S. They did not want the lead female to be a black woman, which is so sad that they would do that. To me, that is what more people should be upset about.
2 thoughts on “Stan Lee Responds to Fantastic Four Casting of Johnny Storm”
When I heard of the casting, the first thought that I had was why change what was origional, but then I thought let’s give it a try and see what comes of it. I like Micheal B Jordan as an actor, Jaime Bell also, and the thing with no thingy….. Wait for it… We will see how that’s handled. Susan Storm being adopted… mmm it may work.. If Stan Lee says give it a chance, then I all in.
Agree with you totally on the last part. Fox wants ‘racial diversity’, but we can’t have a superhero movie where the primary cast is split down the middle evenly with Caucasian and African-American? Or having a superhero movie where a white man and a black guy are in love?
And yes, if you are going to make the Thing naked, you should show his junk. Otherwise, put his blue trunks on and be done with it!
But yes, this movie, I think, leans toward the ‘bad’ end of the spectrum, but for different reasons than what the outraged masses are saying.
When I heard of the casting, the first thought that I had was why change what was origional, but then I thought let’s give it a try and see what comes of it. I like Micheal B Jordan as an actor, Jaime Bell also, and the thing with no thingy….. Wait for it… We will see how that’s handled. Susan Storm being adopted… mmm it may work.. If Stan Lee says give it a chance, then I all in.
Agree with you totally on the last part. Fox wants ‘racial diversity’, but we can’t have a superhero movie where the primary cast is split down the middle evenly with Caucasian and African-American? Or having a superhero movie where a white man and a black guy are in love?
And yes, if you are going to make the Thing naked, you should show his junk. Otherwise, put his blue trunks on and be done with it!
But yes, this movie, I think, leans toward the ‘bad’ end of the spectrum, but for different reasons than what the outraged masses are saying.