So a black actor is considering role of Johnny Storm and nerdrage has turned racist again.

[Casual Shinji]

I'm sure we all know comicbook fans have a big bug up their ass when it comes to authenticity. And it's their right, I mean, they love these characters and want to see them stay as true to the source material as possible. Didn't Daniel Craig get critisized for being a blond Bond? That wasn't about race either.

I'm not invested in this at all, so for my part they make 'm a French hunchback.

 

[Thaluikhain]

Because Johnny is white. In every form of media he's in.

Well, that was true of everyone that started out as one race, but then was depicted as another as well.

 

[Froggy Slayer]

Well...as long as they have Sue be black as well. Honestly, Michael B Jordan seems like an excellent choice for Johnny Storm, but it might break my suspension of disbelief if he has a white sister. You know, unless they say that they're only half-siblings, in which case I can dig it.

 

[hazabaza1]

I think the biggest question is why their trying to reboot that series after the trainwreck that was the other movies.

EDIT: Alright, jesus fucking christ they want to keep the rights. Christ, can people check to see if someone's been quoted like, 3 times alread?

 

[General Twinkletoes]

This is like when Donald Glover wanted to play spiderman, people lost their shit then too. His race has nothing do to with his character, I'm pretty sure Johnny Storm isn't a neo-nazi. Get the guy who can perform him best.

I hate when people complain about this saying "IT'S DIFFERENT TO THE SOURCE MATERIAL NOOO!" when lots of things change in every adaptation that they probably don't give 2 shits about.

 

[Baron von Blitztank]

I think the biggest question is why their trying to reboot that series after the trainwreck that was the other movies.

Remember the other three movies starring Captain America?

OT:
I fail to see why this is racist. For around 50 years Johnny Storm has been shown as a white man. At this stage it's just kind of expected that movie adaptations would follow suit with that. It's like having a black James Bond or a black version of The Doctor, it just doesn't really seem right after all this time. So naturally people are going to complain. It just seems like changing the source material for the sake of it, without doing anything new or interesting with the character.

 

[Queen Michael]

As long as Sue is black as well, or he's adopted and she's the kid their parents turned out to be able to have after all even though they adopted because they thought that they couldn't have biological kids, or mayeb both of them are adopted, or some other explanation is offered for Sue's race being different, I don't see a problem with this.

Look, people:

1. His ethnicity doesn't have any real importance to his character. Changing

2. "I just want them to stay visually true to the source material!" Right... I didn't hear anybody complaining about Ben being bald in the original movies. Or about Johnny's hair being much shorter and a different color. So visually speaking, it seems like people are perfectly fine with visual changes to the characters as long as they all remain of the caucasian persuasion.

3. Whenever you make a movie you need to make changes. You can't have everything be exactly the way it is in the movies, or we'd have a big-screen version of Fantastic Four #1 and onward complete with bombastic narration by Stan Lee. And people generally accept that a movie can't be exacly like the comics.
Unless you pick a black actor, in which case people start complaining like crazy.

 

[Genocidicles]

It's not racism, just wanting the films to stick to the source material. I mean these people bitched when someone's hair colour changed.

It's not always about wanting white characters to stay white either. There was uproar when the Last Airbender made all the formerly Asian and Inuit characters white for no reason as well. You just hear about people complaining about white characters because it happens more often.

 

[NinjaDeathSlap]

People do realise right that the only reason these characters are all white in the original source material is that they were created in an era of institutionalised racism, where no-one could base a comic around a black character and expect it to be popular?

So yeah... I really don't consider this one aspect of comic book 'authenticity' to be all that sacred. If Michael B Jordan is good in the role, just as Idris Elba and Samuel L Jackson were, then nobody has any rational reason to give a fuck about the change of colour.

 

[Sepko]

Um yeah that just sounds stupid to me. Just make both sibling black if you want a black human torch. There are plenty of talented black actresses out there. While those two things you mentioned are possible it would just bring too much attention to those insignificant details in a movie that would most likely have far to much stuff in it already.

"Oh no! I'm too distracted by different coloured siblings I can't concentrate on the movie!"

 

[Sepko]

I fail to see why this is racist. For around 50 years Johnny Storm has been shown as a white man. At this stage it's just kind of expected that movie adaptations would follow suit with that. It's like having a black James Bond or a black version of The Doctor, it just doesn't really seem right after all this time. So naturally people are going to complain. It just seems like changing the source material for the sake of it, without doing anything new or interesting with the character.

This kinda reminds me of religions trying to explain why they should keep up with the drinking blood and eating body thing, because of tradition. Comics aren't sacrosanct, and in Johnny Storm's case there's no reason as to why he should or shouldn't be black or white or brown or whatever. It doesn't help or detract from his character in any way. Same with Bond, if they were to reboot him again with a black guy playing him it would totally be fine.
The Doctor Who comparison makes no sense, as even he's said that regeneration makes him come out as anything. He's just come out as a white guy every time because having a black main character would've dropped ratings significantly back in the day.

 

[Thaluikhain]

The Doctor Who comparison makes no sense, as even he's said that regeneration makes him come out as anything. He's just come out as a white guy every time because having a black main character would've dropped ratings significantly back in the day.

I think it wasn't that they thought it'd affect ratings, more they didn't think of that at all. It's not just the decisions you make, it's the decisions you don't realise you've made.

 

[Andy Shandy]

Is the race of the person truly important to this character?

If not, then it shouldn't matter what colour the person is, whether they are black, white or even blue!

 

[Sepko]

The Doctor Who comparison makes no sense, as even he's said that regeneration makes him come out as anything. He's just come out as a white guy every time because having a black main character would've dropped ratings significantly back in the day.

I think it wasn't that they thought it'd affect ratings, more they didn't think of that at all. It's not just the decisions you make, it's the decisions you don't realise you've made.

Yeah there's that as well, but I think once you've got the ball rolling by talking about it then it's just a matter of time.

 

[Tombsite]

Um yeah that just sounds stupid to me. Just make both sibling black if you want a black human torch. There are plenty of talented black actresses out there. While those two things you mentioned are possible it would just bring too much attention to those insignificant details in a movie that would most likely have far to much stuff in it already.

"Oh no! I'm too distracted by different coloured siblings I can't concentrate on the movie!"

Yes that was exactly what I said /sarcasm

 

[Queen Michael]

It's not always about wanting white characters to stay white either. There was uproar when the Last Airbender made all the formerly Asian and Inuit characters white for no reason as well. You just hear about people complaining about white characters because it happens more often.

There's a certain difference there, actually -- a big part of the world of Avatar was based around clearly Asian-inspired designs. So in that case, we're talking about picking white people for roles that are specifically designed for Asians.

 

[Mister K]

I think Brad Pitt should play Luke Cage. What? It will "add new depth to the character", or some other bull****.

blond Jean Gray

 

[chozo_hybrid]

As long as in the context of the film/s it makes sense, then all is good. People should be given a chance to play a role if their acting is good enough.

 

[Mister K]

People do realise right that the only reason these characters are all white in the original source material is that they were created in an era of institutionalised racism, where no-one could base a comic around a black character and expect it to be popular?

So yeah... I really don't consider this one aspect of comic book 'authenticity' to be all that sacred. If Michael B Jordan is good in the role, just as Idris Elba and Samuel L Jackson were, then nobody has any rational reason to give a fuck about the change of colour.

Then why not CREATE good, well-written, non-white, superheroes? They are just lazy shmucks.
And about Samuel L. Jackson: Nick Fury in Ultimate universe is black, so no problems there.

 

[mooncalf]

The phrase "If it isn't broken, don't fix it." comes to mind, but I suppose if this is the direction they want to take you can't disagree with it just because he isn't what he used to be. No superhero is what they used to be.