Inevitably, when somebody who does not look exactly like the character as portrayed in the comics, comics fans freak out on the Internet. It’s practically a tradition, at this point, but with Michael B. Jordan’s casting as the Human Torch, it assumed something of an uncomfortable edge. Now Jordan’s had a chance to actually talk about the controversy.
And he pretty much said, “Yeah, they’re being jerks, but what are you going to do?”, according to Coming Soon:
You kinda know going into it that people are used to seeing something one way, it’s a continuity thing more than anything. People don’t like change too much. But annoyed? Eh, you just kinda accept it, it is what it is. You can’t make everybody happy.
Michael B. Jordan must either not have poked around much online, or he has a near-monastic ability to control his temper. Considering some of what we saw online, Jordan’s being remarkably calm about the whole thing.
And in truth, of course, this is not the majority of fans, who really just want to see a good Fantastic Four movie finally and aren’t terribly picky about who plays Johnny Storm as long as he plays a cocky jerk who throws fireballs. It’s that handful of guys (and John Bryne, alas) who just have to try and pee in everyone’s punch because either they’re racist or they just literally have nothing else to be angry about other than comics continuity. Here’s a guy seriously angry that the movie will include two lines about either Sue or Johnny being adopted. Somebody actually wrote two thousand words about that.
In short, Jordan has accepted that nerds will be, well, nerds, and that’s probably a good thing, since it’s not like fan weirdness is on the decline. Just wait until Marvel introduces a new Human Torch who’s not a blond dude in time for the movie. That should go over well.