Joseph Quinn really blew up when he played hard-rocking, D&D-loving super-senior in the fourth season of Stranger Things, when he was already on the rise before that. He appeared briefly in the seventh season of Game of Thrones, then the biggest show on TV, as a Winterfell guardsman named Koner. He appeared in the episode "The Spoils of War," when Arya Stark finally makes it home to Winterfell. Koner doesn't believe it's her and tells her to get lost, only for Arya to brow-beat him into doubting himself and letting her through; watch it above.
It's a small moment, but it left an impression on episode director Matt Shakman. “I was impressed by him, and thought, ‘Someday I’ll work with him again,’” the director told Empire. Sure enough, Shakman is now directing The Fantastic Four: First Steps, a mondo-sized Marvel movie due out next month. And who should be playing the iconic role of Johnny Storm, aka the Human Torch, but Joseph Quinn?
Did Shakman's brief time working with Quinn on Game of Thrones get Quinn the gig in this potential world-shattering blockbuster? That's probably stretching it; Quinn already has some major film roles under his belt, playing Emperor Geta in Gladiator II and one of the lead characters in A Quiet Place: Day One. Still, it couldn't have hurt.
Johnny Storm has been around in comic books since 1960s, and has been played onscreen before by the likes of Chris Evans and Michael B. Jordan. With that kind of pedigree, I only see Quinn's star rising even higher from here. “I was interested in Johnny Storm who was more than just a ladies' man and adrenaline junkie," Shakman said. "I was looking for somebody who could be a dreamer. And I think Joe is an incredibly alive, spontaneous actor.”
The Fantastic Four: First Steps will be out in theaters on July 25. There are also plenty of Stranger Things fans who wonder if Joseph Quinn might not show up for a cameo in the fifth and final season, which will start to drop in November. As for Quinn's time on Game of Thrones, I think we've seen the last of Koner.
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h/t ComicBook.com