Michael B. Jordan has already said so much about the brain-dead Internet trolls upset about his Fantastic Four casting that it's a wonder he still feels the need to talk about it. Simply put: there was an outcry from certain people because his character, Johnny "the Human Torch" Storm, is traditionally Caucasian, blond hair and blue eyes, in the Marvel comic books. That there were some out there who were really upset by this fictional character being tweaked for the big screen is pretty sad, and the racist comments made towards Jordan were disgusting. With the film set to arrive this summer, Jordan expressed his feelings on the issue in an editorial at EW, and as usual he absolutely nails it.
"You’re not supposed to go on the Internet when you’re cast as a superhero. But after taking on Johnny Storm in Fantastic Four—a character originally written with blond hair and blue eyes—I wanted to check the pulse out there. I didn’t want to be ignorant about what people were saying. Turns out this is what they were saying: “A black guy? I don’t like it. They must be doing it because Obama’s president” and “It’s not true to the comic.” Or even, “They’ve destroyed it!”
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?
There were even more people upset that Kate Mara, who is Caucasian, was cast as Jordan's sister in the film, because apparently these people have a problem with interracial relationships of any kind...
"This is a family movie about four friends—two of whom are myself and Kate Mara as my adopted sister—who are brought together by a series of unfortunate events to create unity and a team. That’s the message of the movie, if people can just allow themselves to see it."
Jordan ends with some words of wisdom for the trolls out there who simply can't beyond the changes Josh Trank and 20th Century Fox have made...
“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.”
He's right, of course, and says everything that needs to be said on the issue. Now, let's move on and if those people want to be stuck in the past, let them stay there. Fantastic Four opens August 7th 2015.
