Fantastic Four reboot-- Casting, Rumors, Pix, ect;

[Photoman15]

Casting a "nonwhite" actor in an originally white role is not the problem. The stupid thing about this casting is that Sue and Johnny have ALWAYS been biological brother and sister. You wanna change colors, then make them both black (or Chinese or whatever), make Reed black. This particular PC casting was just dumb.

 

[Skywalker]

I really like the casting of Michael B. Jordan as Johnny, my issue has always been with Kate Mara as Sue. I'd have preferred it if they'd made both of the Storms black, because making just one of them black (and that one being the smartass sidekick character, for that matter) doesn't send the right message to me. If they'd wanted to really do something truly novel and noteworthy, they should have made Reed black instead.

 

[Captaindemotion]

No, what's disingenuous is acting surprised every single damn time it happens. Sam Jackson has been playing Nick Fury for seven years now, and everyone who pays any attention to superhero movies at all is surely aware of that. It's hard to find a comics-based project from this millennium that hasn't cast a nonwhite actor in an originally white role.

OK, then from now on never make a post when you noticed a role was cast with a different race. After all, it's not surprising, so don't ever mention it again.

BTW, from earlier in this thread:

My problem was more with Chris Evans's race. I'm not opposed in principle to the idea of Sue Storm being Hispanic, but if so, shouldn't Johnny have been Hispanic too?

Owned.

 

[theenglish]

Casting a "nonwhite" actor in an originally white role is not the problem. The stupid thing about this casting is that Sue and Johnny have ALWAYS been biological brother and sister. You wanna change colors, then make them both black (or Chinese or whatever), make Reed black. This particular PC casting was just dumb.

This is offensive. Our world is filled with mixed ethnicity children. My own children have skin tone closer to their mom than me. My wife's siblings range from almost white skin to quite dark. My kids don't even understand what people are asking when someone asks them about skin color.

There is no reason why Sue can't be white skinned if her mom was, or even if one of her grandparents is white.

I don't think it is wrong to ask the question of skin color but it is certainly highly offensive to use the words absurd and dumb to describe it because that implies people should only have children with others of the same skin color--and--

 

[Skywalker]

Casting a "nonwhite" actor in an originally white role is not the problem. The stupid thing about this casting is that Sue and Johnny have ALWAYS been biological brother and sister. You wanna change colors, then make them both black (or Chinese or whatever), make Reed black. This particular PC casting was just dumb.

This is offensive. Our world is filled with mixed ethnicity children. My own children have skin tone closer to their mom than me. My wife's siblings range from almost white skin to quite dark. My kids don't even understand what people are asking when someone asks them about skin color.

There is no reason why Sue can't be white skinned if her mom was, or even if one of her grandparents is white.

I don't think it is wrong to ask the question of skin color but it is certainly highly offensive to use the words absurd and dumb to describe it because that implies people should only have children with others of the same skin color--and--

Yeah, while I would have preferred to see both Storms played by black actors, to call it absurd and dumb is a little much.

 

[Captaindemotion]

I know friends of my friends who live in rural Ireland and have adopted a little Vietnamese boy and a little African boy. The parents are white. It may be unusual in rural Ireland (well, it is unusual there) but I wouldn't have thought it particularly rare in the melting pot that is the USA.

 

[Mr. Adventure]

I know friends of my friends who live in rural Ireland and have adopted a little Vietnamese boy and a little African boy. The parents are white. It may be unusual in rural Ireland (well, it is unusual there) but I wouldn't have thought it particularly rare in the melting pot that is the USA.

I don't think it's rare here in the US (though I think it's more common in urban areas than in rural) but some are acting like it's odd to even assume or ask those friends if the children are adopted and not their natural children.

 

[Captaindemotion]

^ Adoption would be the first guess I would usually make in such situations.

And in my experience, adopted children and families are just as much a family and behave just like any other family as the rest of our families. So I don't think that this should alter the Sue/Johnny dynamic.

 

[JD]

I think it's bullshit, everyone notices when a character is cast like this. Some will point out how great it is that the casting is more inclusive, others will call it out as political correctness gone mad, others won't really care but it's noticeable and noticed.

...But again, to act like people didn't notice is to me disingenuous.

No, what's disingenuous is acting surprised every single damn time it happens. Sam Jackson has been playing Nick Fury for seven years now, and everyone who pays any attention to superhero movies at all is surely aware of that. It's hard to find a comics-based project from this millennium that hasn't cast a nonwhite actor in an originally white role.

Nick Fury isn't a good example of this, because the Ultimate version of the character is specifically based on Samuel L. Jackson, with his approval. So they basically just took that from the comics.

I do agree that is annoying that people still get so upset by this. Most of the time it is probably the least significant change, plot wise, but it gets the most attention.
I can see reacting to it, I won't deny I was surprised when I heard about Johnny's and Sues casting, and I think I even voiced that surprise here, but I've never seen it as something to actually get upset about.
As for the reality of it, I've seen plenty of families with similar makeup as the Storm family here. It's definitely not absurd or ridiculous.
Sure it might be nice to get a line or two about it in the movie just to put an end to the questions, but can't see it getting more than that.

After watching the trailer again, I'm starting to find myself being a little more accepting of the differences between the movie and the comic. The changes really aren't any worse than what have been done in older adaptations of comics. Hell it already looks closer to the comics than things like the Bill Bixby/Lou Ferigno The Incredible Hulk.

 

[Mudd]

No, what's disingenuous is acting surprised every single damn time it happens. Sam Jackson has been playing Nick Fury for seven years now, and everyone who pays any attention to superhero movies at all is surely aware of that. It's hard to find a comics-based project from this millennium that hasn't cast a nonwhite actor in an originally white role.

OK, then from now on never make a post when you noticed a role was cast with a different race. After all, it's not surprising, so don't ever mention it again.

BTW, from earlier in this thread:

My problem was more with Chris Evans's race. I'm not opposed in principle to the idea of Sue Storm being Hispanic, but if so, shouldn't Johnny have been Hispanic too?

Owned.

Gotta respect the research there.

 

[Photoman15]

Casting a "nonwhite" actor in an originally white role is not the problem. The stupid thing about this casting is that Sue and Johnny have ALWAYS been biological brother and sister. You wanna change colors, then make them both black (or Chinese or whatever), make Reed black. This particular PC casting was just dumb.

This is offensive. Our world is filled with mixed ethnicity children. My own children have skin tone closer to their mom than me. My wife's siblings range from almost white skin to quite dark. My kids don't even understand what people are asking when someone asks them about skin color.

There is no reason why Sue can't be white skinned if her mom was, or even if one of her grandparents is white.

I don't think it is wrong to ask the question of skin color but it is certainly highly offensive to use the words absurd and dumb to describe it because that implies people should only have children with others of the same skin color--and--

I didn't say the coloring of the two siblings is dumb. All I'm saying is the PC casting was dumb when it pertains to the source material. And it would have been better to make Reed black (the smart one) as opposed to the hot-head.

 

[Captaindemotion]

Casting a "nonwhite" actor in an originally white role is not the problem. The stupid thing about this casting is that Sue and Johnny have ALWAYS been biological brother and sister. You wanna change colors, then make them both black (or Chinese or whatever), make Reed black. This particular PC casting was just dumb.

This is offensive. Our world is filled with mixed ethnicity children. My own children have skin tone closer to their mom than me. My wife's siblings range from almost white skin to quite dark. My kids don't even understand what people are asking when someone asks them about skin color.

There is no reason why Sue can't be white skinned if her mom was, or even if one of her grandparents is white.

I don't think it is wrong to ask the question of skin color but it is certainly highly offensive to use the words absurd and dumb to describe it because that implies people should only have children with others of the same skin color--and--

I didn't say the coloring of the two siblings is dumb. All I'm saying is the PC casting was dumb when it pertains to the source material. And it would have been better to make Reed black (the smart one) as opposed to the hot-head.

I remember thinking also that a black Reed would've been more original and unexpected than making Johnny black. But the director and star (Trank and Jordan) worked together on Chronicle and I guess Josh felt that his star there was a good fit for Mr Storm. Having seen that movie, I do have to agree with him. YMVWD, of course.

 

[Mr. Adventure]

After watching the trailer again, I'm starting to find myself being a little more accepting of the differences between the movie and the comic. The changes really aren't any worse than what have been done in older adaptations of comics. Hell it already looks closer to the comics than things like the Bill Bixby/Lou Ferigno The Incredible Hulk.

Does seem to have some of the vibe of Ultimate Fantastic Four which I liked what I've read of it. Takes the old team but gives it a bit of weird science twist. The casting seems more inline with the current vibe than the classic characters. I agree with what has been said that it's nice to have something with a different vibe to the main Marvel product.

 

[theenglish]

Sure it might be nice to get a line or two about it in the movie just to put an end to the questions, but can't see it getting more than that.

After watching the trailer again, I'm starting to find myself being a little more accepting of the differences between the movie and the comic. The changes really aren't any worse than what have been done in older adaptations of comics. Hell it already looks closer to the comics than things like the Bill Bixby/Lou Ferigno The Incredible Hulk.

We'll wait and see. An "I'm adopted" line or just a family photo with a blond mother would more than suffice. As for the story, it is entirely adapted from the Ultimate Universe from what we've seen in the trailer. You should read the first TPB or two--but I will say that I thought it was the least interesting UU take and the writing was pretty awful IIRC.

 

[Mr. Adventure]

^ I remember the Ellis run being good but it's been like 10 years. Looking on Wiki I see that was only a small part of the total run though.

 

[fonzob1]

This reboot does not look good *period*

 

[SiddFinch1]

As long as the movie is good I don't care about why jihhny and sue have different skin tones ..like thousands of other siblings

 

[DigificWriter]

This reboot does not look good *period*

Says you.

I'm really looking forward to this take on the characters, especially getting to see Sue in action on the big screen.

 

[RJDiogenes]

Not seeing a difference. Nothing I've read indicate the powers and personalities were related originally. And as I mentioned the powers don't actually line up with the characters personalities Sounds like fan idea that gained traction, especially after fans became pros.

As far as I remember, it was Roy Thomas who first mentioned it in the mid-70s. And it's certainly possible that it was more subconscious than deliberate on Stan and Jack's part, but the powers do line up pretty well: Reed was reaching for the stars, Sue has her protective instincts, Johnny is the hothead, and Ben is a big lug.

Reed's the smart guy. The big brain. Getting to the stars is just one project, not who he is. The phrase works a metaphor for his intelligence, but not his shapshifting/malleability. Sue's force field is a later addition, not her original power. Turning invisible doesn't say protective in that sense. It says stealth or supernatural or even scared.. Johnny isn't really a hot head. He the smartass. The practical joker. Ben's more prone to losing his temper than than Johnny. Ben might be the only one were his personality translates to his powers. He's a tough guy who became literally tougher.

The metaphor only applies to one aspect of their personalities. Thomas also took it a step further in an issue of What If? where he gave them different powers based on other aspects. Reed turned into a disembodied brain for obvious reasons, Sue got the stretching powers for reasons I forget, Johnny turned into a mechanical man because of his car hobby, and Ben gained wings because he was a pilot. The original configuration, though, has the added strength of its parallel with the four elements of antiquity.

So it's long past time people just admitted that this is normal now. There's no going back to the unjustly white-dominated casts of comics from the '40s and the '60s. This will be the way it happens for the rest of our lives, and it should be, because whites have already had their turn in the sandbox and it's long past time everyone got to play. So there's no point in making an issue about it anymore, because it's not going away, any more than women's suffrage or school desegregation or gay marriage is going away. There comes a time when you just have to face the fact that the debate is over and one side won.

What's really disingenuous is continuing to pretend that people who want to see faithfulness to source material are racists who want to go back to "white-dominated casts" and who are on "the other side." You've been told this before, but you're so desperate to be seen as an Enlightened White Male that you refuse to listen. Your self-righteous posturing doesn't impress anyone; it just alienates them.

 

[Mudd]

As far as I remember, it was Roy Thomas who first mentioned it in the mid-70s. And it's certainly possible that it was more subconscious than deliberate on Stan and Jack's part, but the powers do line up pretty well: Reed was reaching for the stars, Sue has her protective instincts, Johnny is the hothead, and Ben is a big lug.

Reed's the smart guy. The big brain. Getting to the stars is just one project, not who he is. The phrase works a metaphor for his intelligence, but not his shapshifting/malleability. Sue's force field is a later addition, not her original power. Turning invisible doesn't say protective in that sense. It says stealth or supernatural or even scared.. Johnny isn't really a hot head. He the smartass. The practical joker. Ben's more prone to losing his temper than than Johnny. Ben might be the only one were his personality translates to his powers. He's a tough guy who became literally tougher.

The metaphor only applies to one aspect of their personalities. Thomas also took it a step further in an issue of What If? where he gave them different powers based on other aspects. Reed turned into a disembodied brain for obvious reasons, Sue got the stretching powers for reasons I forget, Johnny turned into a mechanical man because of his car hobby, and Ben gained wings because he was a pilot. The original configuration, though, has the added strength of its parallel with the four elements of antiquity.

So it's long past time people just admitted that this is normal now. There's no going back to the unjustly white-dominated casts of comics from the '40s and the '60s. This will be the way it happens for the rest of our lives, and it should be, because whites have already had their turn in the sandbox and it's long past time everyone got to play. So there's no point in making an issue about it anymore, because it's not going away, any more than women's suffrage or school desegregation or gay marriage is going away. There comes a time when you just have to face the fact that the debate is over and one side won.

What's really disingenuous is continuing to pretend that people who want to see faithfulness to source material are racists who want to go back to "white-dominated casts" and who are on "the other side." You've been told this before, but you're so desperate to be seen as an Enlightened White Male that you refuse to listen. Your self-righteous posturing doesn't impress anyone; it just alienates them.

The caterwauling that repeatedly occurs every time the non-issue of this kind of casting comes up is transparent and becoming pathetic. There's certainly no honest excuse for it when, as in this case, the argument is launched by a silly question like "how are they explaining the fact that two siblings in a family have different racial backgrounds?"

It's embarrassing to read.