When Marvel announced that Michael B. Jordan had been cast as “Human Torch”; Johnny Storm in Fantastic Four, there was an Internet uproar that an African-American actor would be playing a character who was originally a blonde-haired Caucasian in the comic books.
Now that these “Internet trolls”; have had their say, it’s time for Jordan to respond, and respond he does in a cutting Entertainment Weekly op-ed that skewers haters who think Johnny Storm shouldn’t be portrayed by a black actor.
“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,”; Jordan writes.
“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,”; he adds. “That’s the message of the movie, if people can just allow themselves to see it.”;
Jordan concludes: “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.”;
