Entertainment

The 'Fantastic Four' Reboot Cast Is Awesome

by Kate Ward

Damn you, Hollywood. Just when you I was officially starting to get over superheroes — rolling my eyes at the latest trailers for the likes of The Amazing Spider-Man 2 (ugh, that CGI!) and any piece of news about Avengers: Sequel No. 5,835 — you announce the cast for an upcoming reboot that makes me actually interested in the genre again. Damn you! But I can't curse the industry too much. After all, how can one not be pumped hearing that Fantastic Four has cast Michael B. Jordan, Miles Teller, Kate Mara, and Jamie Bell in its new reboot?

Yes, you read that right: That's the Oscar-snubbed Michael B. Jordan (Fruitvale Station) and Miles Teller ( The Spectacular Now ), House of Cards actress Kate Mara (who recently shocked us with that thing we won't spoil in episode one of Season 2 of the Netflix series), and Billy Elliot all grown up, Jamie Bell. Clearly, Marvel knows what it will take to captivate a millennial audience. All the reboot is missing is a hashtag and a side plot during which The Thing takes a quiz on BuzzFeed about what kind of igneous rock formation he is.

But what will each of the actors play? Jordan is in final negotiations to play The Human Torch (the role made famous in the first film by future Captain America Chris Evans), while Teller is being tapped for Mister Fantastic (previously portrayed by spell check's biggest nemesis, Ioan Gruffudd), Bell for The Thing (previously Michael Chiklis), and Mara, of course, for the Invisible Girl (popularized by Jessica Alba in the first two films). And, unlike Evans and Alba's Fantastic Four — which suffered from a severe lack of chemistry between its four leads — the reboot is far more likely to charm audiences, since Teller and Jordan already proved they can work well together in That Awkward Moment.

Now, will the superhero casting make up for our recent discomfort with Jordan, who gave a very un-feminist interview to Glamour earlier this year? Not necessarily, but it's undeniable that he'll rock (The Thing pun intended!) his superhero role in Fantastic Four, drawing us back into the genre again. After all, we already know Jordan and Teller, at the very least, are masters of disguise.