"The Wire" actor Reg E. Cathey is set to play Johnny Storm's father, Dr. Storm, in the upcoming "Fantastic Four" reboot, according to The Hollywood Reporter.
Cathey joins Michael B. Jordan as The Human Torh, Kate Mara as The Invisible Woman, Miles Teller as Mr. Fantastic and Jamie Bell as The Thing. Jordan's casting as Johnny Storm recently caused a backlash amongst "Fantastic Four" fans.
Fans weren't sure why the production would cast a black man to play Kate Mara's, a white woman, brother. However, Jordan explained during a press conference with Cinefilos.it he wasn't phased by the negativity surrounding his casting news.
"It was expected. You kinda know going into it that people are used to seeing something one way, it's a continuity thing more than anything," Jordan told the crowd. "People don't like change too much. But annoyed? Eh, you just kinda accept it, it is what it is. You can't make everybody happy. You just gotta accept that and know."
And y'all racists were saying Johnny Storm would be adopted? Reg E. Cathey cast as Dr. Storm for #FantasticFour pic.twitter.com/FVYs4qdiqi
— Ainee Fatima (@Faineemae) May 9, 2014
"I'm an actor, I have to do my job," he added. "I'm going to do my job the best I can and the way I've been doing it my entire life, my entire career. I grew up a comic book guy, I read comic books as a kid growing up, and the Fantastic Four/Human Torch is one of my favorite characters so I'm going to give it my everything. I can't wait. I don't really let it bother me at all. I just want to go into it and do the best job I can. We'll see what happens."
The former Johnny Storm, Chris Evans, thinks Jordan is the perfect actor for the role, according to The New York Daily News.
"I couldn't even give [Jordan] any advice if I wanted, that guy is so good," Evans said. "It's exciting to see what he's going to do, because I know he's going to reinvent it in a way that I could never have imagined."
The "Fantastic Four" reboot is slated to hit theaters on June 19, 2015.
