Casting black actors as white characters is cool. Just not this time.

Just a heads up, this is probably gonna get a little nerdy.

So the word is that Michael B. Jordan, a young black actor, is in the running to play Johnny Storm, the Human Torch, in the next Fantastic Four movie. The Human Torch is white, so naturally, the comic book world has lost it's shit. 

Most people who don't read comics are probably like, "Good for him.  We need more black heroes."  Normally, I'd agree with those people, because I also think we need more black heroes.  Just not the kind who rhyme all of their dialogue, like they did when I was a kid.  More than that, I think we just need more positive and heroic black figures in these kind of movies.  It's important to see yourself represented in the media in a positive way.  Maybe if we had more of that, fuck ups like Benzino wouldn't be TV stars. 

I've actually written about this before, when I wrote about Miles Morales replacing Peter Parker as Ultimate Spider-Man.  Read it here, and tell me how good and smart I am.  Anyway, I explained why replacing white characters with black or Hispanic ones isn't that big a deal and won't cause the fall of the republic.  That change happened in 2011, and as best I can tell, Marvel is still in business.  If Fox goes through with casting Michael B. Jordan as Johnny Storm (I can't believe I haven't made a bigger deal out of his name), they're gonna keep being alright.  But I'm still gonna go the other way this time.

One of the big complaints about Miles Morales was that it felt like they were forcing a black character into that role, but that was stupid, because Marvel was killing off Peter Parker anyway.  Might as well throw a black man in there, because throwing in another white guy would be boring and expected. 

But forcing a character into a role is exactly what this feels like.

It would be one thing if it was a character like Heimdall, who was played by Idris Elba in the Thor movie, or when Kerry Washington played Alicia Masters in the other Fantastic Four flicks.  That was fine, and not because they're minor characters.  In fact, I'm cool with Laurence Fishburne playing Perry White in "Man of Steel," or Jamie Foxx playing Electro in the next Spider-Man, because making them black doesn't change the story.  You don't have to explain why this guy is black.  That's not the case with Johnny Storm. 

No, the word is that they're gonna say that Johnny Storm is adopted, and that's how his sister, Susan Storm, the Invisible Woman, is gonna still be white.  And that's the part that will bother fans the most.  They're changing the story, and not even for a good reason.  If you really want to make Johnny Storm black, then why not make his sister black, too, so you don't have to explain anything?  If you're gonna go there, then go all the way there.  Just be like, "They're black now.  And what?  Get used to it, because we're also gonna make Idris Elba the next James Bond." 

"Well, what if they introduced a brand new Human Torch who isn't Johnny Storm, but is still black?  Would that get those panties out of your ass?"  First of all, Straw Man, that was very rude.  But to answer your question, no, it wouldn't, but that's just because I don't think movies are the place for the director to experiment with "his vision."  That's how Superman became an emo stalker with bastard children.  Leave that shit to the comic books, where they can have another character come through and kill the mistake in the goriest way possible.

So just leave Johnny Storm white.  Not because Michael B. Jordan isn't a talented or even deserving actor, and not because I believe that white characters should stay white.  There will be other chances to piss off racists and bigots by trying to create a progressive comic book universe.  Like when they eventually cast Idris Elba as Iron Man.  Just let them come naturally instead of trying to shoehorn it in, like this one.