Internet fans – particularly those who support (worship?) comic book films – are prone to snap judgments. So its interesting, and slightly encouraging, to hear that the actors playing the heroes we’re paying to watch on screen snap to harsh judgments as well… even before their movies open up in theaters.
Miles Teller currently is promoting his work in the outstanding drama Whiplash. But as is the case in the modern film conversation, he also had to talk about the superhero movie he’s working on, in this case, next summer’s The Fantastic Four. Lo and behold, Teller thinks everyone already has made up their minds about the movie, and his portrayal of Dr. Reed Richards, aka Mister Fantastic. He tells the Huffington Post:
I try not to get too caught up with anything on the Internet. Out of sight is out of mind for me a lot of the time. I already know that people hate me for the fact that I’m playing Reed Richards and that we’re ruining their franchise."
Whoa, whoa. Hate? That’s a strong word. If anything, most of the blowback regarding the casting on Josh Trank’s The Fantastic Four has involved Michael B. Jordan being tapped for The Human Torch, or the small-ish Jamie Bell asked to play Ben Grimm, aka The Thing. Until we see these characters in action on screen, it’s tough to judge how the movie is going to turn out. In fact, because we loved Chronicle as much as we did, we’re willing to give Trank the benefit of the doubt. Even putting Miles Teller in the lead role.
Maybe this is just Teller’s way of psyching himself up, like a star quarterback reading the press clippings from the opposing team. The thing is, the proof will ultimately be in the finished movie. And The Fantastic Four has nowhere to go but up. Tim Story’s attempts at bringing Marvel’s first family to the big screen did OK. But they were family-friendly kid’s films. From what Teller’s telling HuffPo, this movie will be different:
I will say that this film that we made is not really for little kids, I don’t think. We do take a more mature approach."
At least he didn’t say "grounded," which has been the buzzword of choice for this Fantastic Four reboot. We’ll see how Miles Teller does as the new Reed Richards next year. For now, go out of your way to see him in Whiplash, because the movie – as well as the performances of both Teller and J.K. Simmons – is something special.
