If we get a Black Superman in the Coates/Abrams reboot, what would you prefer?

[Username taken]

Don't all of DC's Superman have the same basic origin i.e sent from a dying planet to the Earth?

Regarding Icon, I'm not sure DC can make a movie of Icon without the consent of the Milestone guys.

[SiegePerilous02]

Superman has Superman and Action Comics, he's treated better than any character other than Batman.

Which is exactly what I said, but that's still damning with faint praise. Batman's their golden boy, Superman's a distant second and then there's everybody else.

Also, what do the monthly comics (for an increasingly niche audience) have to do with movies?

[Alkaeus]

Question for those more knowledgeable than I: what stories do Val-Zod and Calvin Ellis star in/are known for? I vaguely know Val-Zod is from the New 52 Earth-2 series, but I don't know what role he played there. Similarly, I vaguely remember Calvin debuting in Final Crisis and being one of the leads in Multiversity, but I don't remember anything specific he did in either of those stories.

[OopsIdiditagain]

While literally nothing has been confirmed about the new project produced by JJ Abrams and written by Ta-Nehisi Coates, there seems to be a consensus on the forum that there's a higher than likely possibility that we'll be getting a black Superman if this goes through.

Much of the debate has been around whether this means a race-bent Clark Kent or one of the existing alternate black Superman (i.e. Calvin Ellis, Val Zod).

Thought it might be instructive to see which way we're leaning at this point while considering this (as yet purely hypothetical) situation...

I personally would prefer the Calvin Ellis President Superman.

EDIT: Just to clarify for the poll options...by "completely original character" I mean a new black version of Superman, not a new black Superman-like character who won't have the name.

Calvin Ellis. President Superman is different and we won't get another rehash of Clark Kent but this time as a black man

[OopsIdiditagain]

There's literally no benefit. A black Clark Kent will be seen as secondary to the commonly white interpretation regardless. Using one of the pre-existing black Supermen gives a chance to highlight more original stories and boost popularity of those characters.

And you will lose the chance to make existing Black characters in the Superman family more popular. Spiderverse boosted Miles Morales' and Spidergwen's popularity, a movie would do the same for Calvin Ellis.

[Celgress]

And you will lose the chance to make existing Black characters in the Superman family more popular. Spiderverse boosted Miles Morales' and Spidergwen's popularity, a movie would do the same for Calvin Ellis.

A valid point.

[king81992]

I'd prefer an ICON movie.

Would a Black Republican hero like Icon gain traction in the current climate?

[Will Evans]

Would a Black Republican hero like Icon gain traction in the current climate?

It would probably be more like him starting out Black Republican, him meeting Rocket, and then her changing his ways.

[Jim Kelly]

Yeah, Calvin Ellis. And make it that Earth where there's more diversity and the world is generally a better place. If that proves popular then they expand on it with more characters in that diverse world. And if it's not popular, other Earths are still possible.

[the illustrious mr. kenway]

I'm cool with either B or C. Calvin Ellis, Val-zod, someone new is fine.

I'm not against Clark being black just the other two feel more creatively interesting.

[MadFacedKid]

Don't all of DC's Superman have the same basic origin i.e sent from a dying planet to the Earth?

Regarding Icon, I'm not sure DC can make a movie of Icon without the consent of the Milestone guys.

There’s Tangent and Just Imagine versions of Superman who are Earthlings

[MadFacedKid]

I'd prefer an ICON movie.

Feel like DC/WB as a business wouldn’t gain as much from
that as they would going for a black variation of Superman given creative licensing and such

[Kaitou D. Kid]

Clark Kent is who most people think of when they think Superman, white or not.

And Superman's logo is the second most recognizable symbol in the world - second only to the Christian cross. Different cultures have drawn and portrayed Jesus as different races, and we don't view that as unacceptable - even though Jesus holds more meaning to people than Superman does, was likely a real person, and know what his actual ethnicity would have been.

If Jesus can be portrayed as non-white or non-Middle-Eastern by an artist, why can't we have a Clark Kent portrayed as multiple different races?

[Superboy-Prime]

Which is exactly what I said, but that's still damning with faint praise. Batman's their golden boy, Superman's a distant second and then there's everybody else.

Also, what do the monthly comics (for an increasingly niche audience) have to do with movies?

The decision to make a black Superman film will also reflect in the sales of comic books. You can either capitalize on this and elevate pre-existing black Supermen or make it extremely jarring when people pick up a Clark Kent Superman book.

[Vordan]

Clark Kent is who most people think of when they think Superman, white or not.

And Superman is the second most recognizable symbol in the world - second only to the Christian cross. Different cultures have drawn and portrayed Jesus as different races, and we don't view that as unacceptable - even though Jesus holds more meaning to people than Superman does, was likely a real person, and know what his actual ethnicity would have been.

If Jesus can be portrayed as non-white or non-Middle-Eastern by an artist, why can't we have a Clark Kent portrayed as multiple different races?

Because race isn’t something you can just swap like it’s no big deal. Hell your own example is very contentious, lots of people complain about Jesus’ getting whitewashed. I don’t even want to touch that because that’s a whole other can of worms.

Clark’s upbringing as a kid who grew up in a rural small town Americana setting is going to play out very differently if he’s a race other than white. The story changes, now it’s going to be about racism in some way.

And also? I like the way Clark is. I like him being white. I don’t think that’s something that needs to change. Especially when there are so many other characters out there that could just as easily represent different groups. I certainly am not looking forward to the fighting this is going to bring about what race Superman “should” be on top of all the other nonsense we have to deal with like “is he too overpowered? Is he boring? Is he relevant? Is he a better villain than hero?”. It’s a toxicity baked into the Flash and GL fandoms at this point that will now be a part of my favorite franchise.

The decision to make a black Superman film will also reflect in the sales of comic books. You can either capitalize on this and elevate pre-existing black Supermen or make it extremely jarring when people pick up a Clark Kent Superman book.

Dude no one is going to be going “why is Superman white?” it will be the opposite. This isn’t like GL where most kids only knew the DCAU John Stewart incarnation. Superman has been everywhere: Comics, TV, movies, cartoons, games, people know what he “looks like”. Even as this movie comes out there will still be content coming out where Superman is white.