Fantastic Four director Josh Trank bought a gun for protection following the Johnny Storm casting backlash. After Fox's first attempt at a Fantastic Four film series flamed out after two lackluster installments, they enlisted Trank (fresh off Chronicle's success) to helm a reboot. The project saw Trank reunite with his Chronicle star Michael B. Jordan, who took on the role of Johnny Storm/Human Torch. 2015's Fantastic Four mixed up the classic formula by making Sue Storm Johnny's adopted sister, rather than having the two of them biologically related as in previous adaptations.
Any film would be fortunate to have an actor of Jordan's talents involved, but some fans weren't thrilled about his Fantastic Four casting. In the immediate aftermath of the announcement, the news was met with a substantial amount of criticism, much of it rooted in race (Johnny Storm is traditionally white, and Jordan is black). It was an extremely unfortunate situation for all involved, and Trank had to take some serious precautions so he felt safe during the process.
In an interview with Polygon, Trank revealed the Fantastic Four backlash really unnerved him, particularly after reading message board posts by people claiming they would shoot him. He ended up getting a gun, which he "returned" once filming on Fantastic Four was completed. Trank explained his rationale to the outlet:
“I was so f***ing paranoid during that shoot. If someone came into my house, I would have ended their f***ing life. When you’re in a head space where people want to get you, you think, ‘I’m going to defend myself.’”
It's easy for viewers to sit at home and say Trank's reaction was a bit excessive, but looking at it from his perspective, it's understandable why he went to this measure. Regardless of how realistic threats on his life were (thankfully, no incidents came from this), Trank had to take them somewhat seriously. As the saying goes, it's better to be safe than sorry, and Trank did what he felt was necessary to give himself some peace of mind. Still, it's sad things came to this. Jordan even wrote an open letter to his harshest critics, giving his thoughts on the controversy. It's one thing for fans to be passionate about the properties they love, but this level of toxicity doesn't benefit anyone. Nasty reactions to movies can greatly affect creatives; Jar Jar Binks actor Ahmed Best contemplated suicide after The Phantom Menace, and Kelly Marie Tran left social media following The Last Jedi backlash.
What makes all the noise surrounding Jordan's Fantastic Four casting even sillier is that the ensemble was the least of that movie's problems (in fact, the actors were all generally well-received). The film itself had greater issues that not even a talented cast could work around, and Fantastic Four ultimately went down as an unmitigated critical and commercial disaster. The characters are now back home under the Marvel Studios umbrella, where they'll be rebooted at some point. As for Jordan, he got his comic book movie redemption with his acclaimed turn as Killmonger in Black Panther, so it's safe to say he won in the end.
Source: Polygon