Josh Trank, the director of the 2015 reboot of “Fantastic Four,” told Geeks of Color in an interview that he originally planned on casting a black actress for the lead role of Sue Storm, but received “pretty heavy pushback.”
“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,” Trank said. “But when you’re dealing with a studio on a massive movie like that, everybody wants to keep an open mind to who the big stars are going to be. ‘Maybe it’ll be Margot Robbie,’ or something like that. When it came down to it, I found a lot of pretty heavy pushback on casting a Black woman in that role.”
Looking back, Trank is a bit embarrassed he did not abandon the project since it did not align with his values.
“I should have just walked when the realization sort of hit me, and I feel embarrassed about that, that I didn’t just out of principle,” he said. “Those aren’t the values I stand for in my own life; those weren’t the values then, or ever, for me. 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.”⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀
The presence of a Black female leads in a major motion picture is not impressive. The overall Black representation in Hollywood has also been an issue for some time now. And while “Hollywood has moved on from blackface, it remains terrible at casting people of color.”
