'Fantastic Four': Michael B. Jordan Responds to Critics of Black Johnny Storm

Not everyone feels, well, fantastic about a black actor taking on the role of Johnny Storm/The Human Torch in the new "Fantastic Four" movie. In this re-imagining, Kate Mara plays Sue Storm/The Invisible Woman, Miles Teller is Reed Richards/Mr. Fantastic, Jamie Bell is Ben Grimm/The Thing, and Michael B. Jordan is Johnny Storm, the role played by Chris Evans in the 2005 movie.

Since Johnny was originally written to be blond with blue eyes, some fans grumbled about the change to cast Michael B. Jordan. Jordan just wrote a piece for Entertainment Weekly, responding to comments like "A black guy? I don't like it. They must be doing it because Obama's president," "It's not true to the comic," and "They've destroyed it!"

Here's part of what Jordan wrote:

It used to bother me, but it doesn't anymore. I can see everybody's perspective, and I know I can't ask the audience to forget 50 years of comic books. But the world is a little more diverse in 2015 than when the Fantastic Four comic first came out in 1961. Plus, if Stan Lee writes an email to my director saying, "You're good. I'm okay with this," who am I to go against that?

Some people may look at my casting as political correctness or an attempt to meet a racial quota, or as part of the year of "Black Film." Or they could look at it as a creative choice by the director, Josh Trank, who is in an interracial relationship himself-a reflection of what a modern family looks like today. [...]

To the trolls on the Internet, I want to say: Get your head out of the computer. Go outside and walk around. Look at the people walking next to you. Look at your friends' friends and who they're interacting with. And just understand this is the world we live in. It's okay to like it."

Some fans said they were only questioning how Johnny and Sue could be siblings when they are different races, and Jordan did note that Sue is Johnny's adopted sister in the movie. There were also positive response to the casting of Jordan -- a well respected actor from "The Wire" and "Friday Night Lights" to "Fruitvale Station" -- and he's gotten a good amount of support for his response to EW. But negative stuff usually stands out for everyone. Still, it's worth noting that there isn't a mass movement against a black Johnny Storm, and for every negative comment, there are more positive ones ... or just complaints about other aspects of the movie that have nothing to do with race.

On a related note, did you see the MovieTickets.com commercial featuring "Fantastic Four"? If not, here it is:

"Fantastic Four" hist theaters August 7.

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