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Fantastic Four: Stan Lee Approves Of Michael B Jordan’s Casting

As the release of 20th Century Fox’s ‘Fantastic Four’ reboot approaches, the super-team’s creator Stan Lee has voiced his opinion on the casting of Michael B Jordan as the Human Torch.

Jordan himself had already made it known that he and director Josh Trank had Lee’s blessing, but now the comics legend himself has addressed the matter in some detail to Entertainment Weekly.

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On the casting of the African-American actor in the traditionally white, blonde-haired role of Johnny Storm, the famously affable 92-year old declares, “It was more than okay - I thought it was a great idea!”

Addressing the level of fan rage the casting has inspired, Lee muses, “They’re outraged not because of any personal prejudice. They’re outraged because they hate to see any change made on a series and characters they had gotten familiar with.

“In Spider-Man, when they got a new actor, that bothered them, even though it was a white actor. I don’t think it had to do with racial prejudice as much as they don’t like things changed.

“But I think they’re gonna get to love this character. So I’m not the least bit worried about it. I always tried to pepper these groups with as much racial diversity as possible because that’s the way the world is.”

Lee created a number of the first black superheroes back in the 1960s, including Falcon and The Black Panther.

Still, these remarks come only a few weeks after Lee said he was in agreement with Sony’s stipulation that the big screen take on Spider-Man should remain white and heterosexual.

‘Fantastic Four’ hits UK cinemas on 6 August.

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Picture Credit: WENN, 20th Century Fox