What a fascinating thread. A few notes:
Did I?
Well if a man does a screen test with Reed and they have good chemistry, and he beats all the other suitable women for the role of Sue because he is much more faithful to the actual comic character, then why the hell not?
Unfortunately, that's not possible. A big part of who the character is being maternal, and sexy, and having children. A man simply can't do that convincingly to the average audience.
Same with Black Panther, a big part of BP is being an African King from a long line of such. A big part of Luke Cage is being a brotha from the hood. Just like Thor or Captain America, they come from an explicitly and necessarily white story.
My question: if Johnny was black haired, would you have this same reaction?
I would venture to say that a caucasian actor could be found that would fit the character and be best suited for the role. Hey I would even be fine if they found a biracial actor that fit the role....but in order to square with having a black Johnyy, you will have to have a black Sue. Unless we are going to change even further and say they were adopted by their parents, etc...
This is an interesting point of view. It is common, but I don't believe it is true. Adaptation accuracy is not the primary priority when making a film. The only priority is making a great film, and that means someone whom you work well with, will serve that purpose better even if you have to recolor their hair, or have them put on weight, or say that they're step-siblings instead of blood siblings. This is why all these films are going the Ultimates route rather than the more accurate 616.
The thing that's the funniest is that the person who made this casting decision, director Josh Trank, is white.
Not only that, he's an FF fan.
Boom. People feel like it *has* to be PCness or reverse racism or whatever. People really should consider the idea that changing the race of characters who were invented in a whites-only time is a valid creative decision, that can only bode well for the story.
It has nothing to do with who the actor is or how good he is. It has to do with 80 years of comics that tell me that the team looks one way and casting him another way.
Who's read 80 years of comics? You? Joe Moviegoer?
The only people threatened are people who think 616 is the best and ultimate expression of who these characters are. Fox has never thought that and they've come out pretty well, all things considered.
Nope. It's a double-standard. Plain and simple.
You're confused. Treating two things differently doesn't mean double standard. I buy more tampons for my daughter and more bandaids for my son. That doesn't mean I'm not using one principle: Give my kids what they need - and applying it to both of them equally for different results.
The principle many people apply to superheroes is "Representation." They feel that superheroes should reflect us, and that is why they have similar emotions to us, similar problems, similar jobs. They notice, then, that superheroes don't have similar ethnicities to us. While nearly 40% of people in America are not white. Only 10-20% of superheroes are not white, and the disparity gets even larger when you consider white characters are figured much more prominently and often and respectfully than minority characters. So if I apply the principle of Representation to comics, then changing white characters to blacks supports Representation but changing black characters to white does not.
Now, if you don't believe in representation, that's fine, but it's ignorant to call it a double standard.
I don't mind changing the characters race WHEN they're secondary and third tier characters OR they have a popular alternate universe version i.e. Nick Fury. I do not believe in changing well-established characters in ANY comic universe.
It sounds like you do believe in it, because once a popular alt universe thing exists, you support it. So if FF gets popular with a black Johnny Storm...
two lowly fan's opinions...
haha.
Plus he's doing NOTHING right now. COME ON TRANK! Pick him up!
This sentence says a lot about the way we cast things vs how good filmmakers do. We see someone who looks just like the comic book character, but can't even get work and we say 'he's ideal.' And then, when someone who gets the job based on talent, even if they don't quite have the right look we decry the madness until we see the movie and then say "I can't imagine anyone else as the part." Hollywood doesn't get much right, but deprioritizing the comic book look is one thing they have done very well in the past. What's really funny is, 616 will change to match the movie anyway... so who's really the authority? Who's following who?
Are these characters bigger than 1950s America? Do they transcend that? Or are they eternally bound to a white male world?
Great thread. Even if it's just a rumor.
