According to The Wrap, Michael B. Jordan is in contention to play Johnny “The Human Torch” Storm for the reboot of Fantastic Four being directed by Josh Trank. The news seems only natural considering their previous work together on Chronicle, but for those who might need convincing on why he’s a great choice, here are five quick reasons: 1) The Wire 2) Friday Night Lights 3) Parenthood 4) Chronicle 5) Fruitvale Station Jordan has displayed both a shrewd acting instinct and the ability to be effortlessly charismatic — two traits that would work well for The Human Torch. Not to mention a lot of other roles as well. He’s a stellar young talent, and for those that haven’t seen The Wire, let’s just say that he owns his character Wallace, turning every big beat into a heavy gut punch. And that’s when he was 15. The guy’s got skills. Unfortunately, some are perplexed by the ethnicity problem that crops up if he gets the role, and in some ways it’s understandable; I don’t know how I feel about a non-British actor playing an American superhero either. But seriously, watch those things and try to say with a straight face that this guy doesn’t deserve a bigger spotlight (and possibly the ability to safely light his entire body on fire).

Tonight on Movie New After Dark, you know you’ve made it when you become part of the rumor mill for a distant, not entirely in-production reboot of a superhero franchise. If only I could get my name in the hat for the 2020 reboot of Blankman…

Welcome to another edition of the Reject Recap, where we highlight the past week’s best news and original features from this very movie site and others around the web. It really wasn’t a huge week for stories out of Hollywood and the rest of the industry. Some of the biggest things involved sci-fi movie casting and trailers and the reminder of a remake nobody sees as necessary. In addition to the ten posts curated for your attention, we also share two goofy mash-up videos for your enjoyment this weekend. Start your weekend right after the jump.

It’s not his birthday, he didn’t die (at least not when this was written), and he doesn’t have a new movie out, but gosh darn it – let’s talk Bill Murray. He is, as we all know, the best person. Today I wanted to try and find some more roles in the vein of The Razor’s Edge; just some odd, maybe funny/maybe not characters he’s played over the years that we all may have missed out on. My goal here: to give you, at the very least, one Bill Murray role you didn’t know about, but would now really like to watch. Here we go…

Fox hasn’t always been the most successful studio, as far as adapting Marvel comic books is concerned. Though their 2000 film version of X-Men is largely responsible for launching the current comic book movie boom, their more recent mutant movies haven’t been all that hot, and their takes on the Marvel-created Daredevil and Fantastic Four franchises haven’t been able to produce anything remotely up to snuff. Their treatment of their superhero movies has gone so far off the rails that they’re even set to lose the rights to the Daredevil property, as their attempts to get a new film together haven’t kept pace with the end of their contract. That doesn’t mean that Fox’s days of making Marvel movies are over, though. They’ve still got two more X-Men movies in the works in James Mangold’s The Wolverine and Matthew Vaughn’s  X-Men: Days of Future Past, and they’ve made a new commitment to taking another crack at the Fantastic Four franchise by bringing Chronicle director Josh Trank on for a reboot. That’s some powerhouse talent paired with some potentially lucrative material. And today Fox announced their next step toward getting their Marvel properties back under control: they’ve hired veteran comic book creator Mark Millar to come on as a creative consultant for all of the House of Ideas characters that are still under their control.

It’s a good news, bad news day over at Fox when it comes to their ripe-for-reboots (at least in their minds) Marvel properties. Over at Deadline Hammer Falls, (via Cinema Blend), the outlet reports that Josh Trank is now officially set to helm their Fantastic Four reboot, just as David Slade exits their latest take on Daredevil. While Chronicle director (and comic book adaptation director It Guy) Trank is apparently still signed on for two other comic adaptations- “Shadow of the Colossus” and “Red Star” – and he’s been rumored as a top pick to helm a “Venom” film, the outlet reports that the studio expects that he will direct Fantastic Four next. The film will feature an all-new cast, and Fox is planning on scheduling its production after their new The Wolverine and the X-Men: First Class sequel, which means we’re due for massive casting speculation as of sometime last Tuesday.

There used to be a time when only die-hard comic book fans knew what Stan Lee looked like. His likeness appeared in many of the Marvel comic books for the 60s, 70s, and 80s, but to the average person, he was nothing more than a guy with some shaded glasses. Then Hollywood started putting the guy in some movies. He’s never had a very big part, but to honor the man for helping to create some of the most legendary superheroes (and some of the biggest moneymakers for the movie business), Lee has been given customary cameos in almost every major movie that has been made from characters he helped create. Those who have seen The Amazing Spider-Man (which should be most of you faithful readers, by now) were treated to one of his best and funniest cameos yet. And with more Marvel movies coming down the pike, he’s sure to show up many times again. This gave us a chance to look back on his many appearances over the years and assemble a list of his ten best cameos. Excelsior!

Last week, the utterly shocking news broke that not only was Warner Bros. pursuing a Justice League movie, but it also was in no way at all ever influenced by the unbridled financial success of Marvel’s The Avengers. We can all believe that, can’t we? After all, we read it on the internet. With Man of Steel coming out next year and a no-brainer Batman reboot coming now that Christopher Nolan’s movies are wrapping up this summer, this is an opportunity for Warner Bros. and DC to set a new stage. Plus, with adaptations of The Flash and Lobo, and the potential for a Green Lantern reboot, Warner Bros. and DC have things laid out for them to work out very similar to the pre-Avengers line of films. But this is Hollywood, and so many things can go potentially wrong with a project like this. Here are seven ways Warner Bros. can avoid a potential disaster as they develop this film series.

While it was only a matter of time before Chronicle it-boy director Josh Trank signed on for yet another feature, the news of today’s project is a bit surprising, if only because he’s been so publicly attached to a host of other projects since his unexpected hit. Deadline Argo reports that Trank has signed on to “develop to direct” Sony’s adaptation of of their video game, Shadow of the Colossus. Trank is reportedly a big fan of the game, and he specifically “sought out the job.” As my video game knowledge is slim (and will likely stay that way as the only video game I’ve ever cared about is Grand Theft Auto), a trip to the game’s Wikipedia page reveals a lot of vital information about it. Per the page, “the game’s storyline focuses on a young man named Wander who enters a forbidden land. Wander must travel across a vast expanse on horseback and defeat sixteen massive beings, simply known as colossi,in order to restore the life of a girl named Mono. The game is unusual within the action-adventure genre in that there are no towns or dungeons to explore, no characters with which to interact, and no enemies to defeat other than the colossi.” The game has also garnered a lot of praise in the industry, and is considered “an important work of art due to its minimalist landscape designs, immersive gameplay and emotional journey.” There’s also a pony in it! 

What is Movie News After Dark? It’s a nightly hand-in-hand stroll down Newsworthy Lane, with a stop at the Noteworthy Café for a bite to eat. Then we’ll head back to my place and I’ll show you my signature move, the Well-Researched Scoop (I have two sources that will confirm its quality on the record). What do you say, baby? We begin this evening with part of a new midseason poster for The Walking Dead. Which brings to mind the question of the hour: Is anyone still exciting about this show? Sure, it has the occasional zombie and it was nice to see Glen “make a friend,” but beyond that, it’s become tired, has it not?

Another week, another chance to share the obsession. Edition number 2 of this still brand new Merch Hunter column and I’m already gushing about something relating to Harry Potter – something I do far too frequently as it happens – as well as conveniently bending my own rules. Was never really one for rigid structures and laws and all that anyway. This time out, I discuss the distinction between boxsets and merch, the Disney Heroine effect and attempt to prod an artist through praise to sell out in the interest of my own need to fill my shelves with pretty things. All via the medium of this week’s three essential purchase picks.

What is Movie News After Dark? This is a question that I am almost never asked, but I will answer it for you anyway. Movie News After Dark is FSR’s newest late-night secretion, a column dedicated to all of the news stories that slip past our daytime editorial staff and make it into my curiously chubby RSS ‘flagged’ box. It will (but is not guaranteed to) include relevant movie news, links to insightful commentary and other film-related shenanigans. I may also throw in a link to something TV-related here or there. It will also serve as my place of record for being both charming and sharp-witted, but most likely I will be neither of the two. I write this stuff late at night, what do you expect?

In 2004, the New England Patriots won the Super Bowl, Facebook was founded, and the United States finally lifted their decades-old travel ban against Libya. Perhaps more importantly, at Comic-Con that year, Michael Chiklis, Jessica Alba, and Ioan Gruffudd took to the stage to discuss filming their upcoming feature Fantastic Four and to present the partial cast to rabid fans who had been sifting through rumors months and months before. Now, friends, it’s time to start that process all over again. Because 2004 is such a vague memory.

Harry Knowles seems to think that this is the new title for an upcoming reboot of Fantastic Four. It makes sense, as he also lays down word that the film will be a complete reboot of the Fantastic Four saga. As you know, Fox needs to keep making Fantastic Four movies in order to keep the rights to the property, else they will lose it back to Marvel Studios and Disney.

This week on a very special episode of Reject Radio, Kevin Carr attempts to continually steer the discussion toward why his addiction to animated pornography is not a social problem, but I get us back on track and talking about horrible, terrible films like clockwork. Plus, chopped and screwed music!

Today’s crazy rumor: Fox is looking to reboot the Fantastic Four franchise, again again. This time they are looking to make it more like Iron Man. As in, it will actually be a good movie that makes a lot of money.

Fantastic Four star Chris Evans talked to us this week about his upcoming project Push. But while he was at it, he also talked to us about the possibility of more Fantastic Four movies. Or lack of possibility, that is.

With the release this weekend of Marvel Studio’s Iron Man I can be certain of two things: Comic book movies are here to stay and Iron Man is among the best of them. Thus, it is time to see just how well it stacks up.

Stan “The Man” Lee, the 85 year old genius that created some of our most beloved superheroes, plans to make some new characters for the fanboys to drool over.

Many thought Galactus’ appearance in FF2 was a cop-out, but Marvel has other plans for him.