Joseph Quinn became a worldwide star overnight when he featured as Eddie Munson in the fourth season of Stranger Things. The British actor had been a part of shows such as Game of Thrones and BBC’s Howards End before he was cast as the Metallica-loving oddball in the Netflix series. He will be seen in A Quiet Place: Day One next.
Quinn was also cast as Johnny Storm a.k.a The Human Torch in the MCU’s upcoming The Fantastic Four. He would be sharing screen space with Pedro Pascal, Vanessa Kirby, and Ebon Moss-Bachrach. While the gang would be making their MCU debut, the role of Johnny Storm has been depicted twice before, with the first being portrayed by Chris Evans.
Joseph Quinn Did Not Take Inspiration From Chris Evans’ Human Torch
After months of speculation, Marvel finally announced the cast of Matt Shakman’s The Fantastic Four. The legendary comic book characters would be portrayed in the MCU by Pedro Pascal as Reed Richards, Vanessa Kirby as Sue Storm, Joseph Quinn as Johnny Storm, and Ebon Mocc-Bachrach as Ben Grimm.
Though the characters would be making their debut in the MCU, the characters have been depicted twice before in cinema. While the last iteration featuring Miles Teller and Michael B. Jordan was a critical and commercial disaster, Tim Story’s Fantastic Four was a moderate commercial success and even spawned a sequel.
The early 2000s franchise starred Ion Gruffudd, Jessica Alba, Michael Chiklis, and Chris Evans as the Fantastic Four. Evans, who would go on to become Captain America in the MCU, played Johnny Storm a.k.a The Human Torch in the two films. It was one of the actor’s first major roles.
Joseph Quinn, who plays the character in the MCU, reportedly did not take inspiration from the Avenger during his audition. Quinn said to EW,
“I remember really enjoying Chris Evans’s performance as Johnny in the previous films, and it felt like this would be a really exciting opportunity; I was absolutely signed up…I mean, you’re going to make it your own. It’s big boots [to fill].”
The Stranger Things star mentioned that rather than take inspiration from what was already established, he would like to make the character his own and give a good performance. The character was also played by Michael B. Jordan in Josh Trank’s Fantastic Four.
Joseph Quinn Assures Fans That The Fantastic Four’s Script Is Good
The MCU seems to be going through a tough phase creatively as many of its outings have not matched up to the quality that it used to deliver in the past. While films such as Ant-Man and the Wasp: Quantumania and The Marvels bombed at the box office, its Disney Plus shows like Secret Invasion became one of the lowest-rated MCU offerings in history.
The franchise has been drawing criticism for churning out less-than-stellar content and for putting quantity over quality. Amidst dwindling quality, instances of superhero fatigue have also been a factor in the skepticism toward any new superhero film.
To dispel these concerns, Joseph Quinn assured fans that he had read the script for The Fantastic Four and that it was really great. He said to EW,
“I think that with the story of the Fantastic Four, it feels like we want to get this right. There are aspects of it that are very different from other Marvel films. That felt very compelling to me. And again, going back to who’s involved, Matt, of course, the director, I think is brilliant, and the cast, and I’ve read it and the script is brilliant. It’s really brilliant.”
The star also mentioned that the film would still be its own thing despite being a part of the larger MCU. He mentioned that director Matt Shakman was extremely clear about what he wanted to do with the film and had hence, brought talents on board.
