Fantastic Four's Josh Trank got "heavy pushback" for trying to cast a Black Sue Storm

https://news.avclub.com/fantastic-fours-josh-trank-got-heavy-pushback-for-try-1843932358

For those whose memory of the film are fuzzy, Trank dopped his old Chronicle star Michael B. Jordan into the role of Johnny Storm, but ended up tapping Kate Mara to play his super-powered sister. (Reg. E. Cathey played Sue’s adopted did, Franklin.) In the interview, Trank described getting “heavy pushback” from undisclosed higher ups about trying to cast Sue with a Black actress as well, with enough pressure being brought to bear to make it clear that it wasn’t going to happen. Trank appears genuinely upset with himself about not walking from the movie at that point. “When I look back on that,” he says, “I should have just walked when that realization hit me. And I feel embarrassed about that, that I didn’t. Just out of principle.”

Trank spoke, back at the time, about how he wishes audiences could have seen “his” Fantastic Four, and later described the film’s reshoot process as being akin to being “castrated.” He’s typically been light on specifics of how he feels like the movie was taken out of his hands, but this particular anecdote makes clear that even during the casting process his opinions weren’t necessarily the ones that were getting the most consideration.