After an eight year absence, the Fantastic Four finally returned to the big screen last summer to kick off a new series for 20th Century Fox. However, as we all know, the reboot of Marvel’s First Family performed dismally at the box office, only barely grossing back its budget. Despite the movie’s critical and commercial failure, Michael B. Jordan, who played Johnny Storm, a.k.a. the Human Torch, says he’s game to return for Fantastic Four 2, if it gets made.
Jordan looks at his time on Fantastic Four as a learning experience, and citing his love for Johnny Storm and comics in general, he seemed open to playing the character again when asked by IGN. Jordan said:
Johnny Storm is an incredible character. Why not?
There was definitely a lot wrong with Fantastic Four, but Jordan’s Johnny Storm wasn’t one of them. Aside from Reed Richards, he was the only character who felt remotely like his comic book counterpart. Like the original Johnny Storm, he was a hothead (punny) who didn’t respond well to authority, but after the accident on Planet Zero, he was the first to realize they could use their abilities to help people. If Fantastic Four 2 gets made, presumably we would see Human Torch grow even more powerful, and assuming the team goes public, it would be nice to see the fame go to Johnny’s head.
Michael B. Jordan’s comments about how Fantastic Four turned out are certainly optimistic considering all the negative press it’s received since last August. Even Toby Kebbell, who played antagonist Victor von Doom, admitted that he was disappointed with how the movie turned out. It was clear to most moviegoers, too, as the 2015 blockbuster recently earned five Razzie Award nominations.
Right now, the future of Fox’s new Fantastic Four series is murky. Originally they scheduled a sequel for summer 2017 months before the first movie came out. However, Fox took Fantastic Four 2 off their slate last November, and Tim Blake Nelson, who played Dr. Harvey Allen, believes it’s not going to get made. Until an official report comes out or Fox makes some kind of announcement, we’ll just have to keep waiting for its fate to be decided, but things certainly aren’t looking good. Oh well, at least they still have X-Men.
As for Michael B. Jordan, even if he doesn’t get to play Johnny Storm again, that doesn’t mean his time in the world of superheroes has to end. There have been several instances where other actors (like fellow Human Torch Chris Evans) nabbed a different heroic role after their first one came to an end. Maybe there’s room for the Creed actor somewhere in the Marvel Cinematic Universe or DC Extended Universe.
