FANTASTIC FOUR: Rumored Human Torch Actor Seemingly Takes Themselves Out Of The Running To Play Johnny Storm

FANTASTIC FOUR: Rumored Human Torch Actor Seemingly Takes Themselves Out Of The Running To Play Johnny Storm FANTASTIC FOUR: Rumored Human Torch Actor Seemingly Takes Themselves Out Of The Running To Play Johnny Storm

With Fantastic Four casting rumours still swirling, one possible Human Torch actor may have officially taken themselves out of the running following months of speculation. Find more details right here!

By JoshWilding - Nov 18, 2023 03:11 PM EST
Filed Under: Fantastic Four

Even with the SAG-AFTRA strike now over, we still don’t have a confirmed Fantastic Four cast. Vanessa Kirby remains the apparent frontrunner to play Invisible Woman, with The Mandalorian star Pedro Pascal seemingly a lock for Mister Fantastic.

When it comes to the rest of Marvel’s First Family, we’re less certain.

We believe Andor star Ebon Moss-Bacharach will play The Thing, with Paul Mescal said to be a likely Human Torch for a time. Since then, Joseph Quinn has emerged as the new favourite. It's all a little dizzying, and we won’t know for sure until an official announcement is made by Marvel Studios!

You may recall Scream star Mason Gooding taking to social media earlier this year to reveal his interest in playing Johnny Storm. In the weeks that followed, his name entered the rumour mill and has repeatedly come up in connection to the character since. Alas, with the aforementioned cast reveal said to be heading our way any day now, Gooding seems to have taken himself out of the running.

"Flame off," he said in a social media post many fans have taken as confirmation the actor has received bad news from Marvel Studios. Gooding would have been an interesting choice to play Johnny, though it’s hard to imagine Marvel Studios wanting to repeat history by courting the same level of controversy the 2015 reboot did when it depicted Sue and Johnny as not being blood relatives.

Kevin Feige is said to have prioritised not casting an all-white Fantastic Four, hence why Pascal is very nearly confirmed as the MCU's Reed Richards. 

In the comics, the Human Torch is a founding member of the Fantastic Four. Introduced in 1961, he was writer Stan Lee and artist Jack Kirby's reinvention of a similar, previous character, the android Human Torch of the same name and powers who was created in 1939 by writer-artist Carl Burgos for Marvel Comics' predecessor company, Timely Comics.

After gaining his powers in the same accident as his teammates, Johnny discovered he could engulf his entire body in flames, fly, absorb fire harmlessly into his own body, and control any nearby fire by sheer force of will. "Flame on!", which the Torch customarily shouts when activating his full-body flame effect, has become his catchphrase. The youngest of the group, he is brash and impetuous in comparison to his reticent, overprotective and compassionate older sister, Sue, his sensible brother-in-law, Reed, and the often surly ever-lovin’ blue eyed Ben Grimm.

Director Matt Shakman has worked with both Avatar: The Way of Water co-writer Josh Friedman and WandaVision's Cam Squires on the latest draft of Fantastic Four's screenplay. The movie is currently scheduled to be released in theaters on May 2, 2025.

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Waifuslayer - 11/18/2023, 3:09 PM
Hahahaha no one wants to poison their reputation working for The Mouse anymore 🤣🤣🤣
Smart move
Scarilian - 11/18/2023, 3:56 PM
@Waifuslayer -
Even without the damage to Disney's reputation, you have to factor in the Fantastic Four as a brand.

I don't see Fanta5tic Four being received well, so it's a smart move for people to avoid it.
Waifuslayer - 11/18/2023, 4:53 PM
@Scarilian - Oh come on, you mean the brand with a notoriously bad Roger Corman and 2 dated Fox movies with Jessica Alba in White face and a foam runner Thing and a reboot so bad the director publicly disowned it the day it was released? But everyone on this site says their a prestigious dynasty franchise?!
Scarilian - 11/18/2023, 6:06 PM
@Waifuslayer -
Yes, that's my point.

While comparatively a new installment might not be as bad as the others (It's a low bar to surpass them), it'll still be riding on all the damage to the brand from the previous films.

It's why I'm referring to the film primarily as Fanta5tic, because nothing about it at the moment has hinted at it being any less a disaster than the previous films.
Ryguy88 - 11/18/2023, 9:19 PM
@Waifuslayer - where'd he go?
Waifuslayer - 11/18/2023, 9:24 PM
@Scarilian - Oh I totally agree with you, I was just being a shit head, lol.
Waifuslayer - 11/18/2023, 9:25 PM
@Ryguy88 - who?
Ryguy88 - 11/18/2023, 9:29 PM
@Waifuslayer - lol I guess he blocked me, I'm not even sure who he is
Waifuslayer - 11/18/2023, 9:49 PM
@Ryguy88 - lol I get that sometimes. I'll have like 8 messages and go to check them and they're invisible. At least wait till I reply before you block me 😅
Ryguy88 - 11/19/2023, 7:57 AM
@Waifuslayer - some people only want to have discourse in their own little echo chambers. They dont like their ideals being challenged because they usually cant defend it so would rather just pretend those challenges dont exist.
garu - 11/18/2023, 3:11 PM
who?
Ha1frican - 11/18/2023, 3:50 PM
@garu - Cuba Gooding Jr.’s nepo baby
HulkisHoly - 11/18/2023, 3:13 PM
I remember the good ol days when this site wasn’t just rumors.




Sigh.
JoshWilding - 11/18/2023, 3:28 PM
@HulkisHoly - There are currently 10 articles displayed on the front page (I’m on mobile). None of them are rumours, and even if you count this one, only one is. 💀
HulkisHoly - 11/18/2023, 3:35 PM
@JoshWilding -

I’ve been here a long time. Who do you think you’re fooling?

I understand there’s been an actor strike but we can have articles of other topics then just clickbait rumors which, despite what you claim, has dominated this site for months.
Ha1frican - 11/18/2023, 3:51 PM
@HulkisHoly - I’ve been here since like 2010 and I don’t remember that ever being the case lol
GeneralChaos - 11/18/2023, 3:58 PM
@JoshWilding - He's right though. Every time I come to this website there's at least one rumor and it's featured as the top story.
bobevanz - 11/18/2023, 4:12 PM
@HulkisHoly - lmao that clown blocked me years ago for calling him out. He thinks 8 of his opinions count as actual articles, mixed in with meaningless lists and all of MyTimeToShineHello's baseless rumors. You're right, this site is worse than tmz. The ones who have been here, know
bobevanz - 11/18/2023, 4:14 PM
?si=IKSwKe_PwpoxHE8a
JoshWilding - 11/18/2023, 4:32 PM
@GeneralChaos - There is no “top story” feature; chances are it’s just the most recent article posted. However, if you’re talking about the “Popular Headlines” box, that will be because rumours are immensely popular and often rise up the ranks there. They wouldn’t posted if people didn’t want to read them, dude. 🤷🏻‍♂️
Chris827 - 11/18/2023, 7:27 PM
@HulkisHoly - this entire site is just rumors, top 5 lists, comment section full of incels, racists and hate.

Find myself coming back here less and less.
GeneralChaos - 11/20/2023, 10:08 AM
@JoshWilding - so you're admitting you post rumors because it drives traffic?
JoshWilding - 11/20/2023, 10:56 AM
@GeneralChaos - I'm not "admitting" anything (not on trial here, bub), but have you been on the internet lately? Why do you think any website posts anything?! No traffic = no websites.
GeneralChaos - 11/20/2023, 12:51 PM
@JoshWilding - Sure but can any website be thought of as reliable when its front page is always offering rumors as news?
Thing94 - 11/18/2023, 3:13 PM
Yeah, good. He's not Johnny Storm.

Next.
WakandanQueen - 11/18/2023, 3:14 PM
Stretching harder than Reed Richards to make that reach
Th3Batman - 11/18/2023, 3:17 PM
I don't remember any comic book movie taking this long to cast. There has to be something seriously wrong with this movie for no one wanting to take part in it.
BlackSpider - 11/18/2023, 3:24 PM
@Th3Batman - Actor Strike.
Th3Batman - 11/18/2023, 3:36 PM
@BlackSpider - This movie was announced years ago.
BlackSpider - 11/18/2023, 3:47 PM
@Th3Batman - Yeah announced. They dont start casting announcments much later. Probably around now.
Ha1frican - 11/18/2023, 3:52 PM
@Th3Batman - I wonder if the Jonathan Majors thing has Disney spooked. If I were them I’d be running CIA level background checks on everyone involved in Fantastic 4 and X-Men lol
Apophis71 - 11/18/2023, 4:14 PM
@BlackSpider - I'd argue they probably would have announced before now, like one of the conventions this year but they wouldn't whilst everything was on hold due to the writers strike even before the actors strike so...

...I mean ultimately announcing cast is about starting to build hype for a film about to start filming within a year or so otherwise your just detracting too much from the next couple years of films and shows so for a film not due till 2025 so...
BeNice123 - 11/18/2023, 3:17 PM
I use to remember this site reporting facts… NOT RUMORS… wilding with his BS reporting.
VISIONaryNPa2 - 11/18/2023, 3:24 PM
@BeNice123 - hell come and getcha
JoshWilding - 11/18/2023, 3:25 PM
@BeNice123 - Hmm, yes, aside from the fact this site has always posted rumours (I discovered it in the late 2000s thanks to a Spider-Man 3 rumour about Venom), going so far at one point to label them “RUMOR” and posting a recurring piece called “RUMOR MILL.” But yes, it’s just ME and my BS reporting. 🤣
HenrySpiderman - 11/18/2023, 3:27 PM
@JoshWilding - I dont see rumor mill on this article.
videovac - 11/18/2023, 3:33 PM
"hell come and getcha" - @VISIONaryNPa2

(Looks at Josh's response)

Right on queue
FireandBlood - 11/18/2023, 3:49 PM
@BeNice123 - This site has always reported rumours. At least since I discovered it in 2011 when I literally stumbled upon it looking for Dark Knight Rises rumours.
bobevanz - 11/18/2023, 4:17 PM
@FireandBlood - no, they'd be rumors from actual outlets.. not some fools from Twitter. Sure the strikes have caused problems, but if you can't admit that the quality of this site has gone down in three years, you're blind lol
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