A rumor is going around that Michael B. Jordan will be playing the Human Torch in director Josh Trank’s reboot of Fantastic Four.
This is news for one reason: it would cast a black actor in a traditionally white role. But this isn’t the first time ethnicities have changed when the character went on-screen.
The practice is known as “Race Bending” and widely done in Hollywood for a bunch of reasons.
Read on for the most bewildering race changes in genre movie history.
#26 Perry White (Laurence Fishburne) in Man of Steel (2013)
Original Ethnicity: Caucasian
New Ethnicity: Black
#25 Aang (Noah Ringer) in The Last Airbender (2010)
Original Ethnicity: Asian
New Ethnicity: Caucasian
#24 Captain Nemo (James Mason) in 20,000 Leagues Under the Sea (1954)
Original Ethnicity: Indian
New Ethnicity: Caucasian
#23 Catwoman (Eartha Kitt) in Batman (1966)
Original Ethnicity: Caucasian
New Ethnicity: African-American Black
#22 Uhura (Zoe Saldana) in Star Trek (2009)
Original Ethnicity: African-American Black
New Ethnicity: Hispanic
#21 Heimdel (Idris Elba) in Thor (2011)
Original Ethnicity: Caucasian (Nordic)
New Ethnicity: African-American Black
#20 Johnny Rico (Casper Van Diem) in Starship Troopers (1997)
Original Ethnicity: Filipino
New Ethnicity: Caucasian
#19 The Mandarin (Ben Kingsley) in Iron Man 3 (2013)
Original Ethnicity: Asian
New Ethnicity: Caucasian Middle Eastern
#18 Harvey Dent (Billy Dee Williams) in Batman (1989)
Original Ethnicity: Caucasian
New Ethnicity: African-American Black
#17 Goku (Justin Chatwin) in Dragonball Evolution (2009)
Original Ethnicity: Asian
New Ethnicity: Caucasian
#16 Dastan (Jake Gyllenhaal) in Prince of Persia: The Sands of Time (2010)
Original Ethnicity: Persian
New Ethnicity: Caucasian
#15 Robert Neville (Will Smith) I am Legend (2007)
Original Ethnicity: Caucasian
New Ethnicity: African-American Black
#14 Ripcord (Marlon Wayans) in GI Joe: Rise of the Cobra (2009)
Original Ethnicity: Caucasian
New Ethnicity: African-American Black
#13 Catwoman (Halle Berry) in Catwoman (2004)
Original Ethnicity: Caucasian
New Ethnicity: African-American Black
#12 Alice ‘Teeny’ Fletcher (Queen Latifah) in Sphere (1998)
Original Ethnicity: Caucasian
New Ethnicity: African-American Black
#11 Ford Prefect (Mos Def) in The Hitchhiker’s Guide to the Galaxy (2005)
Original Ethnicity: Caucasian (Appearance)
New Ethnicity: African-American Black
#10 Kingpin (Michael Clarke Duncan) in Daredevil (2003)
Original Ethnicity: Caucasian
New Ethnicity: African-American Black
#9 John “Ray” Arnold (Samuel L. Jackson) in Jurassic Park (1993)
Original Ethnicity: Caucasian
New Ethnicity: African-American Black
#8 Pete Ross (Sam Jones III) in Smallville (2001)
Original Ethnicity: Caucasian
New Ethnicity: African-American Black
#7 Robin (Marlon Wayans) in Batman Returns (1992)
Original Ethnicity: Caucasian
New Ethnicity: African-American Black
Note: According to Wayans, he was supposed to play Robin in Batman Returns. He was cast and paid, but his role was cut from the film.
#6 James West (Will Smith) in Wild Wild West (1999)
Original Ethnicity: Caucasian
New Ethnicity: African-American Black
#5 Bane (Robert Swenson) in Batman & Robin (1997)
Original Ethnicity: Hispanic (Caribbean)
New Ethnicity: Caucasian
#4 Agent Zero (Daniel Henney) in X-Men Origins: Wolverine (2009)
Original Ethnicity: Caucasian (German)
New Ethnicity: Asian (Korean)
#3 Alicia Masters (Kerry Washington) in Fantastic Four (2005)
Original Ethnicity: Caucasian
New Ethnicity: African-American Black
#2 Bolivar Trask (Bill Duke) in X-Men: The Last Stand (2006)
Original Ethnicity: Caucasian
New Ethnicity: African-American Black
#1 Bane (Tom Hardy) in The Dark Knight Rises (2012)
Original Ethnicity: Hispanic (Caribbean)
New Ethnicity: Caucasian
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<span class="dsq-postid" data-dsqidentifier="37710 ">8 Comments
Most of those still worked. Except Wild, Wild West. Or maybe it was just because that movie was awful?
Must…see…Marlon Wayans…as Robin!
wait what… i wish i could think of just one. how about… swamp thing: marsh new: house plant… stupid i think so…
gosh. I was so annoyed when they cast the Last Airbender movie!
Nutschell
http://www.thewritingnut.com
Ben Kingsley is Indian actually
Just because being black does not automatically make you African-American. Idris Elba is from England and spoke with a neutral/theatrical accent. The same could be said for many here.
Goku was an alien, not actually asian. That being said, Justin Chatwin was still a really bad choice.
Re: Zoe Saldana
"Hispanic" is not a race or ethnicity. It is a term invented by the Nixon administration that attempts to lump people of all Spanish speaking nations into one category. (In other words, it's hella racist). Zoe Saldana is a Latina– but she is ALSO Black. I know, I know… So confusing! It has to be one or the other right?
There are Black people of just about every nationality on the Globe. Saldana's national heritage doesn't make her any less Black.