How Can The Human Torch Be Captain America?

In a bizarre twist of Hollywood casting, Chris Evans, who played the Human Torch in the Fantastic Four movies has been cast in the role of Captain America in the upcoming film. It’s a good thing the Fantastic Four franchise is scheduled for a reboot and Chris Evans won’t be a part of it, but was he really the best choice to play Captain America?

They don’t call it the “Marvel Universe” for nothing.  Everything is interconnected. Even though different studios may own the rights to certain characters, they should still be treated as though they are part of the same continuum. Legal matters, which have no bearing on the reality of the depiction of the Marvel Universe, should not get in the way of the comic book reality the movies are supposed to represent.  The Fantastic Four, The Human Torch, The Avengers, Captain America, Daredevil, Spider-Man, The Hulk all exist in the same time and place in this fictitious world. Although it is plausible that all these characters wouldn’t be in the same movie at the same time, it couldn’t be more wrong to have the actor that played the Human Torch also play Captain America. Cosmic rays and super soldier serum just don’t mix. It wouldn’t happen in the Marvel Universe, and it shouldn’t happen in ours.

I hope this doesn’t set a ridiculous precedent in Marvel movies where Tobey Maguire might be cast as Daredevil in the next reboot or Ed Norton cast as Reed Richards in the Fantastic Four reboot.

We are already asked to suspend our belief when it comes to comic book movies, but this is taking it too far. I could accept another actor as Captain America, but I can’t accept the Human Torch as ol’ “Wing-head”. Wait…what’s that?  Captain America doesn’t have wings in this movie? I suppose we should consider ourselves lucky that he’s still carrying a shield.

How do I explain this to my kids? Say I’m a proud Dad with a Marvel movie collection (in Blu-ray no less) and some time in the future I want to have a movie marathon with my son. We watch Fantastic Four 2 (it was much better than the first one) and then put in Captain America.  “Isn’t that the same guy who played the Human Torch?” little Johnny asks.

It’s always been my motto: if you’re going to do something, do it right or not at all. As far as the Captain America movie is concerned, the only other thing I can say is—“Flame On!"