7 Facts about Black Superman, New DCU Project!
Recently DC Studios announced that Henry Cavill’s Superman character has officially retired from the DC Universe. This can happen because the CEO of DC Studios, James Gunn and Peter Safran, want to completely overhaul the entire DCU cinema universe. Interestingly, even though Superman Cavill’s activities in DCU were ‘terminated’, it turns out that this is not the case for Black Superman, whose solo film is currently being developed. While waiting for further developments regarding the Black Superman project, let’s discuss some interesting facts about the film that have been revealed so far!
Inspired by the Black Superman Incarnation
Black Superman is a fan term to refer to an incarnation or variant of Superman from the African-American community. So far there have actually been a lot of Black Superman ever introduced by DC Comics. Starting from Sunshine Superman aka Afro Superman from Dreamworld who debuted in 1990. Then there is also Val-Zod, Black Superman who existed on Earth-2 in the New 52 era (2011). Until the most famous Black Superman, namely Calvin Ellis whose figure was inspired by President Barack Obama. The popularity of Black Superman is proof that the Black Superman version live action also has the potential to get the same attention, maybe even more.
Produced by JJ Abrams and Studio Bad Robot
News of the Black Superman project first came to light in February 2021, amidst the upheaval in the fate of Cavill’s Superman character in the DCU. The solo film featuring Black Superman will be produced by filmmaker JJ Abrams’ studio, Bad Robot. Abrams himself is listed as a director who has worked on a number of popular Hollywood films, including Star Trek, Star Wars: The Force Awakens, and The Rise of Skywalker. Meanwhile, Bad Robot has so far been involved in the production of various films Mission Impossible, Star Trek, Star Wars, Cloverfield, and Overlords.
Exist in an Alternate Universe
Although project Black Superman from JJ Abrams is part of Warner Bros., but the film’s setting itself will reportedly take place outside the DCU cinema universe. Look like The Batman and the Bat-Verse from director Matt Reeves which tells the new story of Bruce Wayne aka young Batman from actor Robert Pattinson. At least the limitations of this film are still valid until this article is written, because both JJ Abrams and DC Studios have yet to issue an official statement whether they will combine their universes or instead continue to exist with their respective universe concepts in the wider DC Multiverse.
Written by the Creator of Black Panther Comics
Although for now there is still no director attached to the Black Superman project, but at least JJ Abrams has hooked Marvel Comics writer Ta-Nehisi Coates. Apart from releasing a number of books and novels that generally address issues of African Americans and white supremacy, Coates is also known as the author of various popular Marvel comic series. Like Black Panthers Vol. 6 (2016-2018), Vol. 7 (2018-2021), and Captain America Vol. 9 (2018-2021). His involvement with the project Black Superman would mark the start of his career as a superhero film writer.
Presents the New Black Superman
Besides the story not taking place in the DCU, the movie Black Superman it also turns out that it won’t feature the incarnation that DC Comics has introduced before. So fans won’t see a version live action Val-Zod or Calvin Ellis in the film later, but Kal-El aka the main Superman who is depicted as black. This report was first revealed last April, where the reporter Jeff Sneider from The Ankler write, “Ta-Nehisi Coates has made Kal-El [Black Superman] to the main Superman concept in the comics, where the protagonist comes from Krypton and comes to Earth.”
Taking Place in the 20th Century
Apart from claiming that the Black Superman that exists outside of the DCU is not a comic version, Sneider also said that the story written by Ta-Nehisi Coates will take place in the 20th century. That means the Black Superman that we will see later will most likely look younger. from Cavill’s version of Superman in the DCU. Where perhaps the character will be portrayed as a superhuman figure who is searching for identity and is just starting to use his powers in heroic ways like a superhero.
Currently Seeking Black Directors
As mentioned above, Superman Cavill’s retirement at DCU did not affect the project at all Black Superman developed by JJ Abrams and Ta-Nehisi Coates. Instead, they are currently looking for black directors to work on the film. In May, it was actually revealed that a number of directors had been targeted by the studio, such as Steven Caple Jr., Ryan Coogler, JD Dillard, Regina King and Shaka King. If we’re lucky, maybe we’ll find out who the director will be as early as next year.
Those are various interesting facts from the film Black Superman, whose status apparently wasn’t fazed by the news of Superman Cavill’s layoff. There are still many things that have yet to be revealed about this film, such as who is the director, who is Superman who will appear later and also the cast, as well as the film’s release date. We can anticipate many things from the project Black Superman this, just keep monitoring the development, reportedly only at Greenscene.com yes, geeks.
