Michael B. Jordan was one of the first names that came to mind when it was announced that American author, journalist and comic book writer Ta-Nehisi Coates would be writing the next Superman film. Coates is known for writing the Black Panther and Captain America series for Marvel Comics, and he even got shout-outs on Avengers: Infinity War, Avengers: Endgame and Black Panther. With this new project, Coates is officially a member of the Marvel and DC families.
When this story first broke, word was that the movie will feature a Black Superman. That got people thinking about whether Creed and Black Panther star Michael B. Jordan might be playing the main role, since he signed a deal with Warner Bros. back in 2019 and pitched an idea for a Superman reboot. That particular project never came to fruition, but you can see why people would wonder if Jordan was still involved in the Superman business.
However, Jordan recently told The Hollywood Reporter that he will be “just watching on this one.” Now, should we take him at his word, or wonder if this is some tactic to throw us off?
I mean, they would have to at least consider the guy, wouldn’t they?
Michael B. Jordan wanted to play the Superman of Earth-23
Let’s take it back to 2019 when Michael B. Jordan was chatting it up with Oprah Winfrey. It was then he revealed that he’d be open to the idea of playing Superman. But the talk of a Black man playing Superman didn’t go over well with many fans when Jordan was linked to the superhero in the past.
"It’s tough. I hate being a businessman and understanding both sides of the situation. There is a huge upside to it, but being under that microscope, being picked apart and compared to so many different versions of Superman… I would rather do something original. I’ll be Calvin Ellis."
Jordan referred to one particular version of Superman known as Calvin Ellis, who is the Superman of Earth-23. His first appearance was in Final Crisis #7 by Grant Morrison, Doug Mahnke, Christian Alamy, and Tom Nguyen back in 2009 during the Final Crisis event.
On Earth-23, Ellis was a Black Kryptonian that also happened to be the President of the United States. In fact, this Superman was modeled after President Barack Obama and boxer Muhammad Ali, so he was basically as badass as a Superman could get.
During the Oprah interview, Jordan said that “comic book purists can accept that more than me being Clark Kent.” So maybe, just maybe, Jordan is getting to fulfill that initial desire now, and he’s just trying to trick all of us into believing otherwise.
Side note: For more information on the Black Supermen in the DC Universe, check out CBR’s article. They do a pretty thorough job of explaining how there are two prominent Black Supermen in DC Comics.
Whether or not Michael B. Jordan is playing us or if Coates’ Superman film is indeed telling the story of a Black Superman is yet to be seen. For all we know, it could be simply one based on Henry Cavill’s Superman.
But we think it’s time for a change, and I can’t imagine any time better than now to bring a Black Superman to the big screen.
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