Is 'Chronicle' Star Michael B. Jordan the 'Fantastic Four' Reboot's Human Torch?

OK, comic book fans, we've got some big news regarding the upcoming Fantastic Four reboot today. According to a TheWrap report, Chronicle star Michael B. Jordan is Fox's favorite to play Johnny Storm, better known as the Human Torch, in Josh Trank's Fantastic Four movie. Trank previously directed Jordan in Chronicle, so it makes sense that the duo would want to work together again.

Jordan has had multiple meetings at Fox within the last week, and also has a good relationship with Trank. Jordan's chances depend on whether or not he has chemistry with the other actors up for the highly-anticipated movie, according to one insider.

Oh. What's that? You think I should address the fact that Jordan is black while Johnny Storm has always been drawn as a white character? Fine, let's discuss this. Yes, Jordan doesn't look like the Human Torch, and with the exception of Marvel using the Ultimate version of Nick Fury in the Marvel Cinematic Universe, we've yet to see a studio do a colorblind casting of a superhero.

We learned earlier this week that Fox also had Girls star Allison Williams on their short list for a role, which we assumed would be Sue Storm. If the studio is looking at actresses who look like Williams while at the same time have pegged Jordan as the favorite for Johnny Storm, we're probably in store for a tiny rewrite of the Fantastic Four's backstory. Could Sue or Johnny be adopted? Half-siblings? Like I said, a tiny rewrite. This kind of tweak wouldn't change the Fantastic Four in any drastic way. They'd still be family. I was fully behind the movement to have Donald Glover play Spider-Man before Sony went with Andrew Garfield, and if Jordan is the best man for this role, I'm all for it. The Human Torch was the best part of the original Fantastic Four movies, and I'd love to see how Jordan could deliver something different than what Chris Evans did.

Fox has developed a habit of putting out subpar movies based on Marvel characters, with the Fantastic Four movies and X-Men Origins: Wolverine being prime examples of awful superhero films. If Fox and Trank are looking at making casting choices like Jordan, I think it's a sign they want to do something different and creative. I mean, would you rather have someone like Taylor Lautner? His skin color is the same as Johnny Storm's — isn't that exactly what people want?