As a new Superman movie is about to hit theaters, a revelation has been made about which high-ranking executive shot down a planned Black Superman film, and why!
Superman opens in theaters on July 11, and it's obviously a huge deal. James Gunn writes and directs this film, which not only introduces a new Man of Steel but also kicks off a new DC Cinematic Universe. The last DCEU was famously affected by behind-the-scenes drama and lackluster entries, dying out with a whimper in 2024 after the box office failures of movies like The Flash.
That left many plans unrealized. Among them was the post-credits scene for Black Adam, where Henry Cavill returned as Superman to face the Rock's Adam. This set up an epic clash between the pair, but Black Adam's box office underperformance meant it never got a sequel.
Almost forgotten is this shuffle is that Warner Bros had a lot of ideas for DC movies on the backburner that would have been in a "multiverse" (or to use DC's term for it, "Elseworlds"). These would all involve different takes on famous characters. 2022's The Batman was to be the first of these to hit; it's unconnected to the rest of the DCEU and features Robert Pattinson as Batman.
Among those ideas was a new Superman movie written by acclaimed author Ta-Nehisi Coates and produced and possibly directed by J.J. Abrams. Coates is well known for his run writing both Black Panther and Captain America for Marvel Comics, so he would be well-suited for a take on Superman.
More daring was that this would have been about a Black Superman in the Civil Rights era. There is precedent in the comics for this, including Calvin Ellis, who's not only Superman but President of the United States on an alternate Earth. While the project had been stalled, it still seemed to be going ahead. But no more.
Who ended this Superman film?
In a Wall Street Journal piece, it was revealed that Coates' Superman project was ended by a man already disliked among comic book fans: Warner Bros. Discovery CEO David Zaslav.
Per the article, Zaslav was trying to rebuild the DCEU after some high-profile failures and, per WSJ sources, dismissed Coates' black Superman film as "too woke."
It's one of many major moves Zaslav has made since he become CEO of the combined Warner Bros. Discovery in 2022. This is the man who shelved the completed Batgirl movie for the sake of tax breaks and allowed The Flash to become a messy production with multiple reshoots and changed endings. Let's not get into the Acme vs Coyote mess; basically, Zaslav has earned a reputation for caring more about saving money than creative success.
All the while, he's been trying to make a success out of DC. He briefly toyed with letting Dwayne Johnson have more creative control of DC properties until Black Adam flopped. He even tried to sway Marvel chief Kevin Feige to switch sides, but that didn't happen. That would eventually lead to hiring Gunn and Peter Safran to put together a more cohesive vision for the DCU. They're trying to reintroduce major heroes like Superman, Batman and Wonder Woman with the eventual goal, WSJ says, of mounting a new Justice League movie.
Canceling Coates' Superman movie for being too "woke" is a bit ironic given that there's already a backlash against the current Superman movie over what some see as progressive messaging. One can only imagine the reaction to a movie about a Black Superman in the 1960s fighting for justice and equality.
Gunn has briefly spoken about the chances of this project happening, but it seems unlikely with Zaslav in charge of things.
Superman is now in theaters.
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