Fantastic Four director got “heavy pushback” trying to cast black actor as Sue Storm

Director Josh Trank’s 2015 Fantastic Four movie was a complete and utter failure. Critics absolutely hated it, and viewers weren’t too keen on it, either. The superhero film was a reboot that re-imagined Marvel’s First Family as a diverse group with Michael B. Jordan cast as Johnny Storm, aka the Human Torch.

BEVERLY HILLS, CALIFORNIA – JUNE 06: Michael B. Jordan participates in the Hollywood talent agencies march to support Black Lives Matter protests on June 06, 2020 in Beverly Hills, California. (Photo by Rich Fury/Getty Images)

In the comics, Johnny Storm is the brother to Sue Storm, aka the Invisible Woman. With Jordan as Johnny, you’d figure Sue would probably be played by a black actor as well, right, with them being siblings? But in the movie, Sue is played by by Kate Mara, a white actress. The movie explained it away as Dr. Franklin Storm (Reg E. Cathey) adopting her at a young age.

As it happens, Trank wanted to give the role to a Black actress. “There were a lot of controversial conversations that were had behind the scenes on that,” he told The First Cut. “I was mostly interested in a Black Sue Storm, a Black Johnny Storm, and a Black Franklin Storm. But when you’re dealing with a studio on a massive movie like that, everybody wants to keep an open mind to who the big stars are going to be. ‘Maybe it’ll be Margot Robbie,’ or something like that. When it came down to it, I found a lot of pretty heavy pushback on casting a Black woman in that role.”

"When I look back on that, I should have just walked when that realization sort of hit me, and I feel embarrassed about that, that I didn’t just out of principle. Those aren’t the values I stand for in my own life; those weren’t the values then, or ever, for me. I’m somebody who always talks about standing up for what I believe in, even if it means burning my career out. I feel bad that I didn’t take it to the mat with that issue. I feel like I failed in that regard."

Unfortunately, it’s all too easy to imagine executives balking at the idea of not wanting to include too many people of color in their superhero movie, fearful it would hurt box office. In 2018, Marvel put out Black Panther and proved that any hesitation about letting people of color hold down superhero movies was unfounded, as it broke numerous box office records. Fantastic Four, on the other hand, was a dud; the movie had a budget of $155 million and only grossed $167.9 million worldwide.

And people of color have established more of a foothold in the genre since. Tessa Thompson plays Valkyrie in the MCU and will have a larger role in Thor: Love and Thunder. Then there’s Anthony Mackie (Sam Wilson, aka Falcon) who is going to be one of the leads in a Disney+ series The Falcon and the Winter Soldier.

Since Disney bought Fox, it now has the rights to make a new Fantastic Four film. Hopefully it’ll be able to avoid these pitfalls when we’re once again reintroduced to Marvel’s First Family.

To stay up to date on everything fantasy, science fiction, and WiC, follow our all-encompassing Facebook page and sign up for our exclusive newsletter.

Get HBO, Starz, Showtime and MORE for FREE with a no-risk, 7-day free trial of Amazon Channels

h/t Variety