With the announcement of FOX’s “Fantastic Four” reboot’s cast comes the usual fan grumbling. Though Miles Teller (Reed Richards), Kate Mara (Sue Storm), Michael B. Jordan (Johnny Storm), and Jamie Bell (Ben Grimm) may have plenty of indie cred, on the surface they’re not a fanboy’s dream. Except, if you look a little deeper it turns out that all four have a history of extreme geekery. Except Miles Teller:
Kate Mara
Mara kicked off her superheroic career in 2006, starring in the kid-friendly “Zoom” as a telekinetic named Summer Jones. Then in 2010, Mara had a small role as a U.S. Marshal in “Iron Man 2,” reversing the flow of Chris Evans from the original “Fantastic Four” to “Captain America.” Finally, she guest starred as program Perl on the animated “Tron: Uprising,” which isn’t strictly speaking a superhero property, but we can all admit it’s pretty nerdy.
Michael B. Jordan
Jordan has already played a superhero once for “Fantastic Four” director Josh Trank, starring in the critical hit “Chronicle” in 2012. But most tellingly, in 2013 he voiced DC Comics hero Cyborg for the animated “Justice League: The Flashpoint Paradox.” Also, one might consider his role as Vince Howard in “Friday Night Lights” a superhuman effort but that’s a bit of a stretch.
Jamie Bell
Little Billy Elliot is certainly a surprising choice for the gruff, rock-covered Thing, but even Bell has a history with comic book properties. In 2008 he co-starred in “Jumper” as a teleporting anti-hero. The movie was based on a novel, but simultaneously adapted into comic book form.
Then in 2011 he took on the title role in the animated/motion capture “The Adventures of Tintin,” based on one of the world’s most popular and long-running comic book series. He’s tentatively set to reprise the role in 2016. If that wasn’t enough, he also has a role in “Snowpiercer,” the Korean film based on a French graphic novel, which we tried to boil down in our interview with the creators of said graphic novel.
Miles Teller
We got nothing.
So there you go, the superhero origins of the new Fantastic Four. Will they be able to use their experience to properly portray Marvel’s first family on film? Only time will tell. Or Teller, if you will.
“Fantastic Four” is scheduled to hit theaters on June 19, 2015.
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