Actor Michael B. Jordan, who will play Johnny Storm—aka The Human Torch—in the upcoming Fantastic Four movie, is firing back at online commenters who did not think he looked the part because he is black and the character has blond hair and blue eyes in the comic book. Jordan wrote an op-ed published Friday on Entertainment Weekly’s website:
Some people may look at my casting as political correctness or an attempt to meet a racial quota, or as part of the year of “Black Film.” Or they could look at it as a creative choice by the director, Josh Trank, who is in an interracial relationship himself—a reflection of what a modern family looks like today.
This is a family movie about four friends—two of whom are myself and Kate Mara as my adopted sister—who are brought together by a series of unfortunate events to create unity and a team. That’s the message of the movie…To the trolls on the Internet, I want to say: Get your head out of the computer…this is the world we live in.
The movie is set to be released in theaters on Aug. 7, 2015.
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Write to Olivia B. Waxman at olivia.waxman@time.com