'Fantastic Four' Cast Announced to Mixed Reactions

Fox's upcoming reboot of the "Fantastic Four" got some much-needed attention this week when the producers released some news about the film's casting. Whenever a superhero film announces its choices for lead roles, fans react loudly, and this time around is no exception.

Two of the roles in the four-hero team look to be definitely cast. Michael B. Jordan ('The Wire") will play Johnny Storm, aka The Human Torch, and Kate Mara ("House of Cards") has signed on to play Sue Storm, aka The Invisible Woman. Negotiations are reportedly still ongoing with Miles Teller ("Divergent") and Jamie Bell ("Nymphomaniac") to play Reed Richards/Mr. Fantastic and Ben Grimm/The Thing, respectively.

The reboot of "Fantastic Four" hopes to take advantage of the current popularity of superhero films. The original "Fantastic Four" film (2005) and "Fantastic Four: Rise of the Silver Surfer" (2007) before comic-based movies reliably did blockbuster business, and both films were disappointments both critically and financially. The reboot is scheduled to be released in June of 2015.

Fan reaction to the casting of the young actors has been moderately positive, but the casting of Jordan, who is black, in the role of Johnny Storm is, predictably, drawing negative comments from some quarters on the comment boards; Johnny and Sue Storm are siblings, and there's some question of how the story will have to be adjusted to explain the relationship between Jordan's Johnny and Mara's Sue.