Michael B. Jordan Talks Fantastic Four Reboot Movie, Human Torch Controversy and More

Actor Michael B. Jordan of The Wire, Friday Night Lights and Fruitvale Station faced some heavy backlash from fans upset that an African-American would play The Human Torch in Josh Trank's reboot of The Fantastic Four in 2015.

The 27-year-old actor recently spoke to Source Magazine about a number of Fantastic Four topics. Firstly, he spoke about being able to publicly speak about the role once the studio officially announced him for the part. Recall he had been rumored for months.

"Oh man! A huge relief. It was like...walking around knowing that for like a year since me and Josh Trank, we talked about this when he first got the job. It's something that we tried to make happen. We knew we had a lot of obstacles in the way and a lot of mountains to move but, you know, for whatever reason things just fell into place and ... [20th Century] Fox believed in the situation and believed in me and yeah, we got it done. So that's definitely something that me and Josh celebrated at the wrap. We were just like we did it."

Jordan also said his long-rumored attachment to the part did not mean he had the role locked up. "Not cast, but me and Josh...I was his choice. He wanted me to play the role and I wanted to play the role. So it was something that he told me around his birthday about a year and some change ago, right after Chronicle. And it was just like cool...let's try to make this happen."

The actor spoke about his experience playing Johnny Storm and while he didn't directly touch on the controversy, he did reference how his interpretation is fresh.

"Yeah man it's been a lot of fun. Johnny Storm is such an iconic character. There's a lot of personality traits and things to him that people are really going to look forward to seeing. Got a lot of original Johnny stuff in there and then you have - not a NEW take but a fresh take. We have a different take on different things as well. I could go on and on about it but I think it's something that people will enjoy."

Finally, Jordan said Chris Evans, who played the character in The Fantastic Four in 2005 and The Fantastic Four: Rise of the Silver Surfer in 2007 offered him some advice, though not in the traditional sense. Jordan also confirmed the new movie is not connected to those two in any way. "Nah. It is a reboot you know, it's its own thing. It's its own origins story. I did get a chance to talk to Chris about it, I met him at this event and he was basically like, 'Man I can't give you anything.' He said, 'You're great, you're awesome. Just do your thing. And enjoy it. It's gonna be fun.' That was just a really cool piece of information, words of encouragement from the guy who killed the role. He really did a really great job and hats off to him with how talented he is cause he's doing an amazing job with Captain America. I really enjoy those films as well so that's kind of pretty much where that was."

At this point, the criticism of Jordan is ridiculous. Yes, Fox has decided to change the character's race, but in a comic world with a Hispanic Spider-Man and a female Thor, an African-American Human Torch shouldn't even affect fans.

Fantastic Four is scheduled for release in U.S. theaters on June 19, 2015.

What do you make of Jordan's remarks? Let us know in the comments below.