Josh Trank says he originally wanted to cast a Black actress as Sue Storm

Last Updated on July 30, 2021

Following FANTASTIC FOUR and FANTASTIC FOUR: RISE OF THE SILVER SURFER, 20th Century Fox set out to reboot the franchise and tasked CHRONICLE director Josh Trank with helming the new adaptation. Fans were excited to see a new take on Marvel's first family, but it's common knowledge that production on FANTASTIC FOUR didn't go as smoothly as the studio (or Trank) would have liked, and the film wound up becoming a critical and box-office disappointment.

One area where Josh Trank caught some vocal feedback from certain groups of fans was his choice to cast Michael B. Jordan (JUST MERCY) as Johnny Storm, but if Trank had his way, Johnny's sister, Sue Storm, would have been played by a Black actor as well. The director spoke with Geeks of Color to explain that he experienced "a lot of pretty heavy pushback" when he fought to cast a Black woman as Sue Storm.

There were a lot of controversial conversations that were had behind the scenes on that. I was mostly interested in a black Sue Storm, a black Johnny Storm, and a black Franklin Storm. But also, when you’re dealing with a studio on a massive movie like that, everybody wants to keep an open mind to, like, who the big stars are going to be. ‘Maybe it’ll be Margot Robbie,’ or something like that. But when it came down to it, I found a lot of pretty heavy pushback on casting a black woman in that role.

As the role of Sue Storm would go on to be played by Kate Mara (A Teacher), Trank obviously didn't get his way, and looking back on it, Trank says that he regrets not walking away from the production at that time. "When I look back on that, I should have just walked when that realization sort of hit me, and I feel embarrassed about that, that I didn’t just out of principle," Trank explained. "Because those aren’t the values I stand for in my own life; those weren’t the values then or ever for me. Because I’m somebody who always talks about standing up for what I believe in, even if it means burning my career out. I feel bad that I didn’t take it to the mat with that issue. I feel like I failed in that regard." Josh Trank's most recent film, CAPONE, is now available On Demand. The crime biopic stars Tom Hardy as notorious gangster Al Capone and takes a look at the final years of the mob boss as he suffers from the debilitating effects of syphilis after nearly a decade of imprisonment. You can check out a review from our own Chris Bumbray right here.