Superman reboots in the works; JJ Abrams producing.

[witchboy]

It is shocking that they could be doing a very unexpected movie with a black Superman but I think ultimately we can't judge it until we see it.
I am thinking if they go the Calvin Ellis route, basically Obama as Superman - that's a pretty exciting concept that's going to engage and excite a lot of people.
Another piece of evidence I think supporting this is that the WB allowed the Superman and Lois series to go forward. If they were going to do more traditional Superman movies I think they'd be less likely to let that series air.
And I think it's exciting and great that we're getting a new movie and the series at the same time, whatever direction they take.

[Kaitou D. Kid]

I’m curious to see where this leads the character. If this movie is successful and there is at least a trilogy, Superman will be seen as a black man for the next 15 years or so and that will be the version of Superman for a whole generation of fans. I’m curious if they will ever be able to change his race back after this. Will it be seen as racist and a step backwards to make him white again? Well that’ll be like 20 years from now so who knows.



I’ve personally seen mostly positive. Ive only seen negativity on Facebook comments sections and those are always full of vitriol and hatred.

If we indeed get a successful take on a black Superman and it sticks around, I don't think it means Superman will be seen as inherently black for the next 15 years the way he's been seen as inherently white for decades. I think the more likely scenario is that race will become more superfluous to the way we view Superman and most superheroes by extension. We might even start seeing open casting of all races for other iconic characters. In my opinion, this would be a good thing.

[Johnny Thunders!]

Exactly! Yup!


I like multiverse stories, and intricate nerd stuff, I may hear about Valtho, learn some new phantom zone criminals, meet a new 5th Dimensional imp.

Everybody can still have the real Superman whatever real means when it comes to this stuff. Plus, if Flash is going to meet Keatons Batman, we might see Cavills Kal or the Rocks Black Adam.

[Dralokonda]

I really have no faith in this film, between J J Abrams works and this Coates political stance and attitude not to mention the lack of development not just for clark kent superman, but his universe as a whole while they are jumping straight into the multiverse makes this all feel extremely rushed, haphazard, unnecessary pandering, tokenism, lack of of faith due to **** management of the IP and overall, just a cheap attempt to earn big big money, i largely expect a repeat of the nightmare that was ghostbusters 2016 aswell as batwoman season 2.

[Kara Danvers]

I really have no faith in this film, between J J Abrams works and this Coates political stance and attitude not to mention the lack of development not just for clark kent superman, but his universe as a whole while they are jumping straight into the multiverse makes this all feel extremely rushed, haphazard, unnecessary pandering, tokenism, lack of of faith due to **** management of the IP and overall, just a cheap attempt to earn big big money, i largely expect a repeat of the nightmare that was ghostbusters 2016 aswell as batwoman season 2.

Coates isn't going to pander and do tokenism. Disagree with his politics all you want but he's sincere.

[SiegePerilous02]

Idk where you been but here it's been controversial, youtube, reddit, 4chan, comic book movies, not everyone is liking it.

To be fair, those are all the dregs of the internet.

[Kaitou D. Kid]

Coates isn't going to pander and do tokenism. Disagree with his politics all you want but he's sincere.

I have mixed feelings on Coates writing it. On one hand, Coates is a talented writer and undoubtedly sincere and not the type to pander or do tokenism. On the other, Coates has used some pretty pro-Establishment talking points against the Sanders campaign, like the idea that universalist-based programs are inherently racist or that racial injustices can be divorced from class. I wouldn't put it past him to view classic Superman as inherently class-reductionist, or for his take on a black Superman to have an anti-universalist message. I won't jump the gun since fiction writers are obviously more than their beliefs, but I don't view Coates writing this as something that is safe to be a slam dunk, especially given WB's disastrous record with Superman.

[Prime]

To be fair, those are all the dregs of the internet.

Maybe but the king currently is Twitter.

[Vordan]

I kind of disagree - I think it is set in stone; WB execs know what they want and for good or ill are going to get it. The decision has most likely been made. We however do not know what that decision is. Could be anything. But there's a difference between not knowing what has been set, and it not being set.

I agree. Even if they end up passing on Coates script, which is always a possibility, I don’t see them abandoning this. They’ve wanted to cast someone black as Superman for years, just they’ve wanted to kill Superman in a movie for years. Plus Abrams has been on a diversity kick for ages. Only way this gets abandoned is if both Coates and Abrams exit the project.

I’m curious to see where this leads the character. If this movie is successful and there is at least a trilogy, Superman will be seen as a black man for the next 15 years or so and that will be the version of Superman for a whole generation of fans. I’m curious if they will ever be able to change his race back after this. Will it be seen as racist and a step backwards to make him white again? Well that’ll be like 20 years from now so who knows.



I’ve personally seen mostly positive. Ive only seen negativity on Facebook comments sections and those are always full of vitriol and hatred.

No because even if the movie gets made, there will still be plenty of other content where Superman is white. Hopefully the S&L TV show will still be going so there will be that, Titans may still be ongoing so he’ll be white there if he makes an appearance, there will be the comics, the animated side will still keep a white Superman, and I’m sure the video games will still have a white Superman since they’ve got a hard-on for making him evil there. Oh we’ll get the usual groan-worthy thinkpieces about how “Superman works better as a black guy!” but they say that about every racebent character.

As a comparison, look at Captain America. Sam is almost certainly going to end up assuming the mantle from Steve, but that doesn’t mean Marvel is going to be replacing Steve in everything or that people would “reject” SteveCap ever appearing in anything again. Another comparison would be Aquaman, Maoma may have defined the character on the big screen, but we still got a blonde Aquaman in the video games and in the animated HQ show.

Lol it depends on where you are looking with the state of society today. I saw Henry Cavill trending so the Snyder fans are undoubtedly pissed. I saw some black people celebrating that it would make white folks mad , I saw Taylor shilling Val-Zod for adaption, I saw some creators getting excited, and I saw others expressing disappointment that Cavill will never get a chance to do a more traditional take. When they officially announce a black Superman that’s when **** will hit the fan and you’ll see the toxic fandom wars in full display.

[Vordan]

I have mixed feelings on Coates writing it. On one hand, Coates is undoubtedly sincere and not the type to pander or do tokenism. On the other, Coates has used some pretty pro-Establishment talking points against the Sanders campaign, like the idea that universalist-based programs are inherently racist or that racial injustices can be divorced from class. I wouldn't put it past him to view classic Superman as inherently class-reductionist, or for his take on a black Superman to have an anti-universalist message. I won't jump the gun since fiction writers are obviously more than their beliefs, but I don't view Coates writing this as something that is safe to be a slam dunk, especially given WB's disastrous record with Superman.

See this is the part that fascinates me: Is WB so stupid that they picked Coates to write a “black” story because they think that will net them an easy billion dollars BP-style? Signs point to yes, but boy are they in for a rude surprise. Coates is the absolute worst choice to write a family friendly movie you can take your kid to, this absolutely going to try for the same “but what does Superman mean?” crap as the Snyder films. Whether it will go over just as poorly remains to be seen, but I don’t have much confidence. Terrio had an Oscar and he still failed, this is Coates first major script.

[Prime]

See this is the part that fascinates me: Is WB so stupid that they picked Coates to write a “black” story because they think that will net them an easy billion dollars BP-style? Signs point to yes, but boy are they in for a rude surprise. Coates is the absolute worst choice to write a family friendly movie you can take your kid to, this absolutely going to try for the same “but what does Superman mean?” crap as the Snyder films. Whether it will go over just as poorly remains to be seen, but I don’t have much confidence. Terrio had an Oscar and he still failed, this is Coates first major script.

Ha! I know he has written and said shady stuff in the past, but is this seriously how first script? I swear to God that a money can run WB better than the backs that are currently there.

[Kaitou D. Kid]

See this is the part that fascinates me: Is WB so stupid that they picked Coates to write a “black” story because they think that will net them an easy billion dollars BP-style? Signs point to yes, but boy are they in for a rude surprise. Coates is the absolute worst choice to write a family friendly movie you can take your kid to, this absolutely going to try for the same “but what does Superman mean?” crap as the Snyder films. Whether it will go over just as poorly remains to be seen, but I don’t have much confidence. Terrio had an Oscar and he still failed, this is Coates first major script.

I don't know if the problems with the Snyder films is that they 'explored what Superman meant'. I think their problem is that they think they did, but instead they're just the longest Linkin Park videos ever.

As far as what WB is thinking, they probably are trying to copy what Marvel did with Black Panther. This was the same studio who thought the response to BvS was negative because the film lacked MCU-style jokes and not because the script sucked ass. If they now all of a sudden think the way to revitalize Superman is to make his next film like BP's (but only in superficial ways duh), it would certainly fit their MO.

[Common Writer]

If this Black Superman movie does come to pass in live-action form, one person who I'd nominate to direct it is Regina King. In her breakout film, 'One Night in Miami', she excelled at how she depicted the men behind the legends. You can’t have true strength without vulnerability and I believe that King has the talent and skillset to capture that with a Black Superman movie. Plus, she's in 'Watchmen' so she understands the superhero genre from an actor's perspective.

Put her in, coach.

[Lightning Rider]

I have mixed feelings on Coates writing it. On one hand, Coates is a talented writer and undoubtedly sincere and not the type to pander or do tokenism. On the other, Coates has used some pretty pro-Establishment talking points against the Sanders campaign, like the idea that universalist-based programs are inherently racist or that racial injustices can be divorced from class. I wouldn't put it past him to view classic Superman as inherently class-reductionist, or for his take on a black Superman to have an anti-universalist message. I won't jump the gun since fiction writers are obviously more than their beliefs, but I don't view Coates writing this as something that is safe to be a slam dunk, especially given WB's disastrous record with Superman.

This is my fear as well - the movie using a race-essentialist narrative that reinforces individualist notions of power and representation, which are then used as a cudgel against universalist economically progressive platforms.

The average movie-goer almost certainly doesn't share that analysis, but it's a pretty clear pattern in both culture and politics that keeps breeding far-right backlash and economic precarity. At a time when the Obama legacy needs to be reckoned with and challenged the most, I'd rater not see it deified.

[Celgress]

I'm on board for this, if only because Abrams has a real knack for casting and Coates pretty much ensures that it'll be a take on Superman that doesn't steer clear of politics.....

I'd prefer any Superman movie steer clear of an overtly political message that's a major turn-off for me as modern moviemakers know nothing about the art of subtlety.