Welcome back to an all-new chapter of your favorite fan-casting column here at Geek Anything, Fan-Cast-It Four! In this column, we are going to list four of our absolute favorite film and television casting ideas for some of our favorite characters from all across popular culture! It doesn’t matter if you recognize the names or faces. We just really want to come up with some fun ideas for who to cast in the iconic roles from throughout popular culture. Sticking with hot topics, this edition of Fan-Cast-It Four is going to focus on a character that would heat up the Marvel Cinematic Universe, Johnny Storm, better known as The Human Torch!
As we already touched on in the last few editions of Fan-Cast-It Four, Disney has made the official announcement that The Fantastic Four is finally heading home to the Marvel Cinematic Universe to join most of their superhero friends. Marvel‘s First Family is ready to take their place where they belong and their arrival could not possibly come soon enough. Fans of the Fantastic Four have been eagerly awaiting their MCU debut since Disney reacquired the film rights to the characters.
Now that we know the first-ever MCU Fantastic Four movie is officially in development, the giant flaming question on everyone’s minds is “who will be playing them“? In recent editions of Fan-Cast-It Four we covered who our top choices are for the roles of both Reed Richards (aka Mr. Fantastic) and Sue Storm (aka The Invisible Woman), so to keep the ball rolling we are diving headfirst into our favorite choices for the role of the Fantastic Four‘s resident hothead, Johnny Storm; The Human Torch!
Johnny Storm is the cocky hotshot of the team that often gets himself into trouble by being too headstrong. He also tends to get himself back out of trouble by being resourceful and clever enough to pull himself out of a sticky situation. As his superhero alias “The Human Torch” would suggest, Johnny can essentially turn himself into a living, breathing, flame. The technical term is “Pyrogenesis,” and it allows him to control ambient heat energy and transform his entire body into a fiery plasma-like state at will. This also gives him Pyrokinesis (which means he can control flames with his mind) and the ability to fly using the heat he gives off when “flamed on.”
Johnny is often arrogant, but it’s also often deserved. Mr. Storm is brave in the face of danger and charming as hell. As the young hotshot pilot member of the team and being stuck amid a group of scientists that includes his older sister, Johnny tends to be a bit of a jokester with his teammates, often taking things less seriously than the rest of the compatriots. Johnny’s heart is filled with the desire for adventure, making him the first one to run into battle. Johnny Storm had previously been played in live-action by Jay Underwood (1994), Chris Evans (2005-2007), and Michael B. Jordan (2015).
In no specific order, here are our favorite casting choices for Johnny Storm in the Marvel Cinematic Universe!
Zac Efron
Okay, yes, we are far from the first to say “Zac Efron would be great casting for The Human Torch.” But you know what? He absolutely is. Efron has been one of the entertainment industry’s brightest stars since his breakout role in Disney’s High School Musical (2006). He made a real name for himself over the years with comedic roles in Neighbors (2014) and Baywatch (2017) while proving he has a lot of raw talent in more serious fare like Me And Orson Wells (2008), The Paperboy (2012), and Extremely Wicked, Shockingly Evil and Vile (2019). Efron has some incredible acting chops, but most importantly, he has the charm that is the real requirement needed to fill Johnny Storm’s flaming hot shoes.
Efron’s name has been thrown around for countless comic book film roles at Marvel, so maybe it’s time that he took one of them? It would be great to see Efron returning to Disney in such a high-profile project after all these years. The major hang-up here is that the actor has been focusing on smaller projects and has expressed his disinterest in keeping up with his old bodybuilder image. So maybe taking on a superhero project like this isn’t something he would be up for. Then again, nothing about The Human Torch would require him to be absolutely ripped, so who knows?
Dacre Montgomery
A huge up and comer in Hollywood, Dacre Montgomery is on the precipice of becoming a real household name. To date, he has only had a handful of major roles, but with high-profile projects like Power Rangers (2017) and Stranger Things (2017-2019) under his belt, his star is only going to continue to rise. A role like Johnny Storm could be just the thing he needs to put his name on the map.
Montgomery is a strong contender for Johnny Storm because, in addition to his youthful good looks, he oozes charisma and has a knack for owning every scene he appears in. He would be believable in the role of the youngest pilot to ever take flight at NASA. Johnny Storm’s devil-may-care attitude would be a perfect fit for an actor like Dacre Montgomery. He has already proven that he can shine in an ensemble cast as the leader of the Power Rangers, so The Fantastic Four could be just the project to take his career to the next level.
John Boyega
John Boyega is a major name that people would recognize after his recent stint as one of the stars of the recent Star Wars trilogy of films. It’s also no small secret that Boyega (and many of his fans) felt that he was sidelined in that series of films after being set up as one of the leads, only to see his character become less relevant with each new film. Since Boyega has officially moved on from the Star Wars franchise, would he be willing to saddle back up with Disney for another major franchise? Perhaps one that would be harder to sideline him as one of four leads?
John Boyega would be a fun choice for Johnny Storm. He’s got excellent comedic talents and would surely pull off the cocky arrogant flyboy of the team with ease (especially since he fit a fairly similar role well enough in Pacific Rim: Uprising (2018), right?). Boyega has a swagger that a lot of actors are lacking, but that would be the perfect fit for a character like The Human Torch. We think Boyega would bring a certain flair to the table that would truly let the Fantastic Four shine in a new way as part of the Marvel Cinematic Universe.
Taylor Lautner
It’s been quite some time since we saw Taylor Lautner in the headlines! He hasn’t done a film since Run The Tide in 2016. Before that, the only acting work he did was for the television series Scream Queens (2016) and Cuckoo (2014-2018). It’s been at least three years since we’ve had Lautner in front of a camera, and that is frankly way too long. Lautner has been acting since he was only 9-years-old and has taken part in several fun projects like The Adventures Of Sharkboy And Lavagirl (2005), Abduction (2011), Tracers (2015), and of course, we would be remiss to not mention his major role as one of the stars of the blockbuster teen drama The Twilight Saga a decade ago.
Taylor Lautner could pull off a big-headed role like Johnny without breaking a sweat. While we would have a harder time buying him as cocky or egotistical, there is a certain virtuousness to him that makes him feel like a good fit for the role. Johnny would be the one to run headfirst into battle and take a hit for a teammate, and Lautner would believably fall into that role. Lautner is due for his Hollywood comeback, and The Fantastic Four would be a phenomenal vehicle for him to arrive in.
Honorable Mentions
Evan Peters
We love Evan Peters, and it is hard to argue against him making an excellent Johnny Storm. For super obvious reasons, that are mostly related to his recent appearance in WandaVision, Peters wouldn’t be able to be cast in this new Marvel Cinematic Universe role. While that WandaVision appearance was fun and certainly had people talking, it’s disappointing that we won’t get to see the actor take on a more permanent role in the MCU.
Liam Hemsworth
We’ve already had Chris and Luke Hemsworth appear in the MCU, so why not go for the hat trick? Liam Hemsworth would be a fun choice for Johnny Storm and would certainly fit the role. Overall, however, he just didn’t make the cut for us when it came down to it. He almost seems too obvious of a choice. Meh.
We also took to social media including Facebook and Twitter and asked our readers who they would cast as Johnny Storm and got some great answers! We have included the list below excluding anyone that was already mentioned above. Other people that fans want to see in the role of Johnny Storm include:
- Aaron Paul
- Lucas Till
- Tyler James Williams
- Ansel Elgort
- Joe Keery
- KJ Apa
- Hunter Parish
- Sam Claflin
- Dave Franco
Who would YOU cast as Johnny Storm for the Marvel Cinematic Universe? What do you think of our suggestions? Be sure to let us know in the comments below and stick around Geek Anything for more Fan-Cast-It Four!
