The Daily Planet - Superman News and Speculation Thread

[writer0327]

Because the obvious solution to you problem is the simplest, but we both know where this leads. Lawd. I have no ill intended in my comments, just always makes me laugh. I will have to return this steak tho, tis' filled with salt. I'd like a brand new fresh order, make it a bit more darker, sir.

Then clearly you don't understand what problem I've got with this.

 

[Detective Conan]

There isnt even really any evidence a Black Superman will be in the film.

I’m mostly going by this:

From the Hollywood Reporter:

Of course things could change but it looks to be the plan for now.

 

[Black Narcissus]

All day. Everyday.

 

[Nemeres]

I'm pretty sure I read on either THR or Deadline that this was a black Superman story "according to sources".

 

[Primal Slayer]

Reading some of Coates comments, yea I'm not optimistic at all. WB picked a guy that doesn't like Superman or DC to write their movie

Sounds like a disaster in the making

Did he not talk about his love for the Timmverse? And how superior it was to The Avengers?

But I will say IF Superman ends up being black, Hollywood really needs to get out of this little thing they've been doing where black directors are primarily hired to tell black superhero stories. Let them also direct the white heroes as well.

 

[Prison Mike]

I'm pretty sure I read on either THR or Deadline that this was a black Superman story "according to sources".

I’m like 90% sure it will be a black Superman. I guess the question will be whether he’s Clark Kent or Calvin Ellis or someone original entirely.

 

[Detective Conan]

Did he not talk about his love for the Timmverse? And how superior it was to The Avengers?

But I will say IF Superman ends up being black, Hollywood really needs to get out of this little thing they've been doing where black directors are primarily hired to tell black superhero stories. Let them also direct the white heroes as well.

Agreed. Part of why I love the Captain Marvel 2 choice. Nia Dacosta is going to crush it!

 

[Prison Mike]

Did he not talk about his love for the Timmverse? And how superior it was to The Avengers?

But I will say IF Superman ends up being black, Hollywood really needs to get out of this little thing they've been doing where black directors are primarily hired to tell black superhero stories. Let them also direct the white heroes as well.

It seems like it’s only limited to black directors too. James Wan did Aquaman and Cathy Yan did Birds of Prey...two Asians directing movies about non Asian characters. It can be done!

 

[Calvin Ellis]

About to be my time to shine.

 

[Prison Mike]

I honestly do want a Calvin Ellis movie

 

[Detective Conan]

About to be my time to shine.

Better late than never, I say.

 

[Gamma Goliath]

captain marvel 2 being directed by Nia Dakota, we're slowly getting some progress in having multicultural directors on projects other than characters in their respective cultures. But that's not always a bad thing either.

 

[dhandler01]

How was his BP run? That's more of an indicator of his quality as a comic storyteller, not what he likes watching.

You are asking the wrong guy, I don't read Marvel comics. I have heard him discuss comics a few times though and it always hit me in the right spot.

 

[dhandler01]

I’m mostly going by this:

From the Hollywood Reporter:

Of course things could change but it looks to be the plan for now.

I know, I am just saying that isnt evidence that is just reading tea leaves. As I said I believe it is happening we just dont know for sure yet.

 

[dhandler01]

captain marvel 2 being directed by Nia Dakota, we're slowly getting some progress in having multicultural directors on projects other than characters in their respective cultures. But that's not always a bad thing either.

Yeah. I agree that it is well past time that we dont just have the X minority directs X minority film.

 

[SwordOfMorning]

An original character would never gain the same amount of traction as an established character. Making Superman a different race is a statement.

This. 100% this.

Also, frankly, there’s a lot more notable young black actors suited to the role right now than white ones. Wanting to have a very different type of performer in the role has artistic merit even leaving any sort of statement out of it. It’s a win-win.

 

[Detective Conan]

Yeah, this is my thought too. Calvin Ellis hasn’t really caught on—can’t imagine WB rolling the dice on a Superman reboot and not doing Clark Kent. But stranger things have happened...

Its also possible they create an entirely original character that’s inspired by Calvin Ellis since unlike, say, Miles Morales that character doesn’t have a lot of source material to draw upon for inspiration.

 

[Yellow Cyclone]

i actually disagree. this does feel tokenism. because originality ALWAYS > race-swapping

you want iconic (minority) characters, you build them up. it does take time. you're not going to be iconic overnight but that's the whole point. superman became superman over the last 80 years. batman, spider-man, wonder woman, the x-men, etc...you have to keep at it

something like spider-verse with miles works because you had the same creator working on it for stability (bendis), to establish characterization, tone, etc...like mcfarlane for spawn. the problem with swapping superman, is that inevitably you're going to go back to the status quo down the road, and then you're going to have a whole generation of fans thinking "wtf this isn't superman" plus the general audience, and you're doing a disservice to the fans who would like the "new" superman. it's just a completely avoidable can of worms

DC has a universe of thousands of characters, there is no reason any of them can't be A-list outside of their laziness (over-reliance on the trinity), and willingness to take risk (none here due to JJ's involvement). in the last 10 years alone, we got a freaking talking racoon and tree that are internationally known, why/how? because quality does in fact matter, they had a plan to adapt things properly and stick with it. this is just stunt casting + WB trying to justify their quarter of a billion dollar deal they signed with abrams/bad robot.

look at storm on the x-men, how did she become who she is today? because you had consistent writing, claremont alone was on it for 20+ years. coates marvel runs have been kind of boring to say the least as well. his cap run started off kinda strong but fizzled

black lightning, steel, mr terrific, GL stewart, static, all have potential and are all relatively unknown enough to get a young black actor to make their own character.

if this is a different multiverse superman then that could be WB's justification, but cavill was the superman of his generation and never got a fair shake but this does seem like a hard reboot. the worst thing of all of this is abrams, without a shadow of a doubt. both trek/wars were just not good enough and i have no doubt he's going to want to have some of his old Flyby ideas updated/incorporated into this. the man hasn't directed/produced a single thing that he hasn't had story input on

 

[SiegePerilous]

How was his BP run? That's more of an indicator of his quality as a comic storyteller, not what he likes watching.

Black Panther fans seem to be celebrating his departure from the title. Signs don't point to good lol.

Quite a few are saying John Ridley would have been a better and more obvious choice. He's touched upon a nuanced view of Supermans character in his Other History of the DCU comic

 

[DlAMONDZ]

i actually disagree. this does feel tokenism. because originality ALWAYS > race-swapping

you want iconic (minority) characters, you build them up. it does take time. you're not going to be iconic overnight but that's the whole point. superman became superman over the last 80 years. batman, spider-man, wonder woman, the x-men, etc...you have to keep at it

something like spider-verse with miles works because you had the same creator working on it for stability (bendis), to establish characterization, tone, etc...like mcfarlane for spawn. the problem with swapping superman, is that inevitably you're going to go back to the status quo down the road, and then you're going to have a whole generation of fans thinking "wtf this isn't superman" plus the general audience, and you're doing a disservice to the fans who would like the "new" superman. it's just a completely avoidable can of worms

DC has a universe of thousands of characters, there is no reason any of them can't be A-list outside of their laziness (over-reliance on the trinity), and willingness to take risk (none here due to JJ's involvement). in the last 10 years alone, we got a freaking talking racoon and tree that are internationally known, why/how? because quality does in fact matter, they had a plan to adapt things properly and stick with it. this is just stunt casting + WB trying to justify their quarter of a billion dollar deal they signed with abrams/bad robot.

look at storm on the x-men, how did she become who she is today? because you had consistent writing, claremont alone was on it for 20+ years. coates marvel runs have been kind of boring to say the least as well. his cap run started off kinda strong but fizzled

black lightning, steel, mr terrific, GL stewart, static, all have potential and are all relatively unknown enough to get a young black actor to make their own character.

if this is a different multiverse superman then that could be WB's justification, but cavill was the superman of his generation and never got a fair shake but this does seem like a hard reboot. the worst thing of all of this is abrams, without a shadow of a doubt. both trek/wars were just not good enough and i have no doubt he's going to want to have some of his old Flyby ideas updated/incorporated into this. the man hasn't directed/produced a single thing that he hasn't had story input on

As someone else said, this is diversity on the cheap

Building up a Miles Morales takes patience and commitment. WB isn't about that. All those characters you listed are as they said; "risky". Race swapping Superman allows them to get brownie points by the liberal media while banking on the Superman brand to turn a quick profit

 

[Eddie Dean]

A black actor as Superman does seem like a pretty big risk judging by the reaction some of you are having.

 

[SwordOfMorning]

What if, and hear me out on this, a single adaptation of Superman where he isn’t white isn’t some bug**** lunatic concept? What if there is 80+ years of stories where he’s a white guy and one variation - which a lot of people will love - where he isn’t, at a moment when the character desperately needs an extra something special after multiple failures at connecting with audiences, isn’t an act of religious heresy?

Coates’s Black Panther is mostly excellent BTW. But, frankly, even if I didn’t like it I’d give him a massive benefit of the doubt because he’s a caliber of writer that rarely works on these movies.

Even if this is in some ways cynical on WBs part, which I’m sure like every decision a studio makes there’s an element of cynicism to it, that doesn’t mean the filmmakers are coming at it from some horribly cynical Woke Brownie Points place. I’m sure Coates has a story he wants to tell and the director who comes aboard will as well.

 

[writer0327]

All day. Everyday.

The only one I accept. An original.

 

[Spider-Aziz]

A black Clark Kent announcement is something out of the ordinary after getting used to him looking white for all those decades since I've known about him, but whatever, whether this decision sticks or changes is still up in the air at this point, and if they stick to it then I hope whoever they choose does well.

I have my reservations about the writer though, I got exposed to some reviews of some of his work and based on the small sample I got it sounds like the quality of his work is dwindling, so the range of quality of the movie he writes might depend on the guiding hands of the director.

I've checked up J. J's score on rottentomatoes and it seems his body of work since early 2000s has been well secured (mostly) whether as producer or director, so chances of the movie having reasonable critical response and bringing in money that more than covers base expenses are there, so even if you have mistrust of his work and are not a fan there is something to be optimistic about.

Chances of it ending up being good are higher than chances of it being Fant4stic levels of shudder I considered before making my post which diminished considerably to me. But I will also add that I don't find most of the characters he worked on memorable in what I saw of his movies, so on a personal note; I'm not exactly optimistic about how I will perceive his Superman and how well I will remember him.

 

[SwordOfMorning]

I also really hope it’s Clark in part because there hasn’t been a great Superman movie inspired by anything post-Crisis. Like, I know Lex Luthor has been in a hundred movies but it also feels like he’s never been in a movie simply because the only post-crisis inspired adaptation was a disaster. Like if there were no Jokers between Romero and Leto.