Posted in: Marvel Studios, Movies | Tagged: the fantastic four: first steps

The Fantastic Four: First Steps – How This Johnny Storm Is Unique

The Fantastic Four: First Steps star Joseph Quinn explains how he and Kevin Feige tweaked the character of Johnny Storm for the modern age.

Much like Spider-Man and the Hulk, when the Fantastic Four make their way to the big screen in July, this isn't the first time people have witnessed these characters being adapted. There were those who discovered these characters from the cartoon, as well as the people who were around during the original Fox days. It was only a matter of time before we got another live-action version once the right reverted back to Marvel, and The Fantastic Four: First Steps will be here in July. However, if you expect to see the same versions of the characters, that isn't the case. There have been a few small adjustments to the character's personality, and Joseph Quinn explained to Entertainment Weekly how this version of Johnny Storm is going to be different from others we have before.

"He's a man that leads with a lot of bravado, which can be an affront sometimes. But also, he's funny," Quinn says. "Myself and [Marvel Studios boss] Kevin [Feige] were speaking about previous iterations of him and where we are culturally. He was branded as this womanizing, devil-may-care guy, but is that sexy these days? I don't think so. This version of Johnny is less callous with other people's feelings, and hopefully there's a self-awareness about what's driving that attention-seeking behavior."

There was also this weird thing where Johnny would sometimes be written as dumber because he was more carefree than the other members of the Fantastic Four. Anyone who is a jokester or attention-seeking must be lacking in intelligence, but director Mark Shakman points out something incredibly obvious: Johnny is on the spaceship for a reason.

"He is really smart," Shakman says. "He's on that spaceship for a reason, and I think sometimes people forget that in various comic stories, he's been one of the most heroic of them, even if he's undercutting his heroism at every turn through humor. He's Sue's brother, which means they are cut from similar cloth."

There has already been some pushback to these quotes on social media because, of course, there is, because why would we want to wait to see if an adaptation works to judge it and instead stew in a self-induced hate spiral for months of our making? Marvel has not been knocking it out of the park lately; there is no denying there have been missteps, but saying that this version of Johnny Storm or The Fantastic Four: First Steps is going to be bad because they are going for a slightly different character angle because said characters were created in 1961 and might need some tweaking? Let's calm down.

The Fantastic Four: First Steps – Summary, Cast List, Release Date

Set against the vibrant backdrop of a 1960s-inspired, retro-futuristic world, Marvel Studios' The Fantastic Four: First Steps introduces Marvel's First Family—Reed Richards/Mister Fantastic (Pedro Pascal), Sue Storm/Invisible Woman (Vanessa Kirby), Johnny Storm/Human Torch (Joseph Quinn) and Ben Grimm/The Thing (Ebon Moss-Bachrach) as they face their most daunting challenge yet. Forced to balance their roles as heroes with the strength of their family bond, they must defend Earth from a ravenous space god called Galactus (Ralph Ineson) and his enigmatic Herald, Silver Surfer (Julia Garner). And if Galactus' plan to devour the entire planet and everyone on it weren't bad enough, it suddenly gets very personal. The action adventure also stars Paul Walter Hauser, John Malkovich, Natasha Lyonne, and Sarah Niles. Directed by Matt Shakman, produced by Kevin Feige, and executive produced by Louis D'Esposito, Grant Curtis, and Tim Lewis, Marvel Studios' The Fantastic Four: First Steps opens in theaters July 25, 2025.

Enjoyed this? Please share on social media!

Stay up-to-date and support the site by following Bleeding Cool on Google News today!