A Superman “reboot” movie is coming from J.J. Abrams

Henry Cavill has been our big screen Superman for nearly a decade now, since Man of Steel came out in 2013. We’ll see him in the role again come March 18, when Zack Snyder’s Justice League drops on HBO Max. But that’s a re-up of a 2017 movie. We haven’t seen Cavill as Superman in anything brand new for a few years now, although he’s said he would love to return.

Meanwhile, Ben Affleck has officially retired as Batman as Warner Bros. has rethought the DCEU in the wake of some box office disappoints, the original Justice League among them. And now Deadline brings us the news that J.J. Abrams will produce “a Superman reboot feature” for Warner Bros. and DC, to be written by author Ta-Nehisi Coates.

We were always going to get another Superman movie sooner or later — he’s too popular a character to just leave on the table. It’s unclear if Cavill is coming back for this one, but the word “reboot” makes me think they’re going in a whole new direction.

Coates — whose books include The Beautiful Struggle, Between the World and Me, and We Were Eight Years in Power: An American Tragedy — is a fairly big name to attach to the project. He’s written Black Panther and Captain America series for Marvel Comics and received a special thanks credit on Avengers: Infinity War, Avengers: Endgame and Black Panther. Marvel and DC, always wooing each other’s talent.

What do you all think? Should Cavill be invited back as Superman, or do you want to see someone new in the role? Or maybe not see a new Superman movie at all?

UPDATE: Warner Bros. reportedly intends to introduce movie audiences to a Black Superman

According to The Hollywood Reporter’s Borys Kit, Warner Bros. intends to feature a Black Superman in this movie, something it’s been trying to do for a while. In fact, Michael B. Jordan tried to develop a Black Superman movie when he arrived at the studio 2019, but it didn’t get off the ground. Perhaps Warner Bros. could consider him when it comes time to cast.

Considering that Coates made a name for himself writing about African American issues and white supremacy in publications like The Atlantic, TIME and The Washingon Post, it would make sense to hire him for this project. Warner Bros. released a statement from him to Shadow & Act, which covers film and television in the African diaspora. “I look forward to meaningfully adding to the legacy of America’s most iconic mythic hero,” he said.

Abrams also weighed in:

"There is a new, powerful and moving Superman story yet to be told. We couldn’t be more thrilled to be working with the brilliant Mr. Coates to help bring that story to the big screen, and we’re beyond thankful to the team at Warner Bros. for the opportunity."

If this is happening, maybe this Superman movie isn’t intended to be part of the DCEU proper, but more of a side story, like how Joker with Joaquin Phoenix stands apart from the rest of the DCEU. In that case, Cavill could still come back.

Or maybe Cavill has left the role behind and this is more like Robert Pattinson replacing Ben Affleck in the upcoming movie The Batman, and this new version of Superman will be the one we have moving forward. We just don’t know right now.

Superman sure is having a boom time, though. He has a new TV show as well:

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