Black Superman: Michael B. Jordan Starts Debate

The box office successes of “Aquaman” and “Joker” recently has D.C. Films figuring out how to keep the momentum going, as they look to their vast comic book character catalog for inspiration.

With the Bruce Wayne role already in the works as Robert Pattinson is playing the Caped Crusader in Matt Reeves’ upcoming “The Batman,” all eyes are on the equally iconic superhero of Clark Kent aka Superman, as its been rumored that Henry Cavill may not be returning as the Man of Steel after the critical and commercial failures of “Justice League” and “Batman v. Superman: Dawn of Justice.” (Cavill, for his part, insists he is not done with the hero just yet)

Enter Michael B. Jordan, who met with Warner Bros. earlier this year to “pitch his vision for the character,” according to Variety.

Make it so…..I.mean there is a black superman in DC comics so why not in the movies!!#HagaishiTV https://t.co/eqauv6VDMO

— Hagaishi kun (@Hagaishi215) November 20, 2019

Then I’m sure you know there’s a black Superman in one iteration so I don’t see a problem of seeing a black Superman if they are going that route. pic.twitter.com/31uJBKqKlg

— Richard (@FilmItRick) November 26, 2019

I don’t think people are hearing me 😂yes I know there is a multiverse version of Kal El who is black I’m not arguing that. I’m not arguing against it either. But the question that keeps going unanswered is would there be a problem if they recast one of the black characters white pic.twitter.com/OlNbokJ0xe

— Dan Lepp (@Dan_theLeppard) November 26, 2019

Jordan, however, didn’t commit to anything since he is busy with other projects and the film appears to be years from production, the publication reported.

But that didn’t stop fans from taking to Twitter to discuss what has become known as the Black Superman phenomenon — the implication that Jordan can only play Black Superman, not a version of Superman who happens to be a Black man.

“He’d just be Superman. And a GREAT one. Not black Superman,” insisted one social media user, as another posted, “You can think Michael B Jordan isn’t a good fit to play Superman and also be okay with a black Superman. Superman doesn’t need to be white. He also doesn’t need to be Michael B Jordan.”

Others were quick to point out that the comic books themselves had versions of Black Superman, as early as 1999, when Kal-El of Earth D was featured in “Legends of the DC Universe: Crisis on Infinite Earths.” In later versions, Kal-El was renamed Calvin Ellis, who also became President of the United States.

The Superman rollout is a tricky one as its been rebooted twice in the last 13 years, with Brandon Routh in “Superman Returns” and Cavill in “Man of Steel.” Neither seemed to be the perfect fit.

Plus, the small screen has been inundated with several iterations from “Louis and Clark,” and “Smallville” to all the variations in the CW/D.C. Universe.

Perhaps its time to shake it up and give the world a new son of Krypton in the form of Michael B Jordan.

He’d just be Superman. And a GREAT one. Not black Superman. https://t.co/IopqfHZaCq

— Jeff Pearlman (@jeffpearlman) November 26, 2019

Turns out not only Jesus was Black, Superman was too. #HoodedJustice #Watchmen

— Diego Luna (@DLunaPhD) November 25, 2019

It’s rumored that @michaelb4jordan might take over as Superman. I, for one, am outraged. I’m all good with a black Superman, I just don’t want to waste Michael B. Jordan in a shitty DC movie

— James Bailey (@JamesBaileyhaha) September 12, 2018

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