The Good Citizens of Metropolis: The Casting Thread

[unholyrevenger]

MBJ ain't gonna play Superman for one reason, and one reason only, he wants to play Vegeta, not Goku. And the DCEU already killed their best chance at a Vegeta Story arc when they killed Zod

 

[Jekecy]

Dean Tanaka aka Dean Cain was a part-asian man who played Superman to be fair

I think most would be fine with a race swap given the superficial aspects of the look remains relatively faithful to the classic Supes. Even though Cain was bi-racial, he still had the black hair, the build, the jaw, good looks. The most "foreign" aspect about him would be his eyes, and even then it evokes the early squinty-eyed renditions of the books along with the Fleischer cartoon. From a first glance, I don't think he stands out (in a bad way) from the other Supermen.

Would I prefer an actor who visually looks like Supes? Yeah. Could I be ok with them changing Supes to black? Yeah. Do I want Michael? No.

Though we've yet to get our first major Asian superhero so maybe they should take that into consideration. Ever since I saw CRA, I've been wanting Henry Golding as Supes come the day Henry stepped down.

Funnily enough, all throughout my viewing of Crazy Rich Asians I could not shake the resemblance his voice and manner of speech was to Cavill. If I closed my eyes, I could swear seeing Cavill saying his lines.

While I generally like to maintain the character's looks from the source material, Golding would be one of those situations much like Cain where I can still see a lot of visual similarities to Supes that whatever deviations he brings isn't a dealbreaker in the least.

 

[Greens]

Not into this.

 

[Boy Scout]

This ain't happening. As is tradition with every new Superman recast cycle, there will be roughly a dozen names (including famous ones) which will be reported in the press for a good 2-3 years, before the actor ultimately cast is someone that came out of left field (publicity wise).

I'm not stressing this at all.

Yep.

That said: I have no issue with a black Superman and I love MBJ as an actor, but I don’t think he’s the right choice for Superman. Not do I think he’d accept the role if it were offered to him.

 

[Silvermoth]

Who’s he and is he single?

 

[B]

Why must we go through this ridiculous charade every single time..

 

[Dr.]

I'm a latino and that doesn't mean I want a Latino Batman or Superman. I really respect and value the character's origins. They're a symbol. How they were initially conceived is how we have always pictured them. Idolized them.

This is not about discrimination. I'd complain as well in case there would be a white Black Panther.

Big difference is that nothing pivotal to the character really changes if Superman or Batman are played by black, Latino or Asian actors. Black Panther? Different story.

Years ago, I read an article/blog post which asked whether certain superheroes were “intrinsically” white - in the same way as, say, Black Panther had to be black. The writers came up with two possibilities: Bruce Wayne/Batman and Steve Rogers/Captain America. With the former, it was because the Wayne family was not only very wealthy (a crucial requirement for Batman’s resources); it was because the Waynes had a privileged pedigree and were “old money.” Ergo, white. With the latter, likewise, the WWII origins pretty much required Steve Rogers to be white. But interestingly: in neither case was it argued that “white identity,” per se, was a defining aspect of these characters. It was more to do with the historical plausibility of their traditional fictional biographies. But even stipulating this point, there are workarounds. For instance, one could rewrite the CA origin as contemporary. Or just have the Waynes be “new money.” At which point, the “requirement” for whiteness becomes less relevant.

Of course, Superman is a much easier case. Just depict Krypton as a multi-racial society (pretty much current practice anyway) and have Jor-El and Lara be “Kryptonians-of-color.” (Needless to say, I’m ignoring the fact that Breitbart et. al. would go positively ape-doodoo over a black Superman. )

 

[harlequinade]

WB should cast MBJ as Supes and Isaac as Batman on the same day

maybe some of fanbase would simply self-destruct

 

[GreenKToo]

Warner's new management over the DC films has turned this into a super s**t show. I'm a hardcore comic movie fan and none of this makes any sense to me-- two Joker movies in different continuities, a Supergirl show and a Supergirl movie with a different actress, Aquaman coming out a whole year after JL (and then I guess another whole year before Shazam after it gets delayed), Affleck is out, and now Cavil may or may not be Superman (and they want to recast with a race swap to make it even more distracting).

I'm guessing they had to reel the Superman decision back in this afternoon after someone else threatened to drop out if Cavil was exiting (Rock, Gal, more?). The guy running all of this should be fired for this mess. This is 10x worse than the direction things were going.

It's WB so I expect nothing more or less from them.
It will always be like this as long as DC is under their umbrella, ie, studio interference.

 

[jolldan]

Damn he thought people were ****ty to him on twitter when he played Human Torch, if this happens trolls gonna be like......


Personally hope it doesn't happen as I haven't been a fan of him, or any of those guys that were in Chronicle since.

 

[Dilly Dilly]

MBJ ain't gonna play Superman for one reason, and one reason only, he wants to play Vegeta, not Goku. And the DCEU already killed their best chance at a Vegeta Story arc when they killed Zod

That fan base will go to that Studios head quarters & write their names on the walls via PISSING ON IT if MBJ was cast as a Dragon Ball character

Anime fans will make FOX fans look sane

If hes a fan of those characters he should know hes wrong for any role there

 

[jolldan]

Dean Tanaka aka Dean Cain was a part-asian man who played Superman to be fair

I watched this as young kid growing up and can safely say you mentioning this is the first time I have ever even heard he had mixed heritage. Maybe it was just me personally but I never noticed just assumed his parents were both white.

 

[Willi Berg]

This idea seems to have come up at a time when there was uncertainty with Cavill, so it is likely just something discussed while WB have been thinking of alternative scenarios to a difficult situation with Cavill. So I don't think these discussions would have gone too far. They still technically have an actor for Superman (well the last time I checked Twitter) and were still negotiating with him.

But multiverse Supermen or multiple Supermen would be interesting to see at some point, even though I don't really see it happening in the near future by WB. Maybe down the line when Superman is more established (yet again...*sigh*...Superman's universe should've been more established and further along by now.) It would be cool to see characters like Val-Zod of Earth-2, or Kong Kenan, the New Super-Man.

Val-Zod:

 

[RockSP]

 

[ManWithNoName18]

The one thing i''m puzzled with is how a race-swapped Superman would work in context of the universe. Would he be in his own else-world movie (like the Joker solo), or be in the main continuity of the DCEU?

How connected will future DCEU movies be anyway?

Would he be Clark Kent, or character like Val Zod or even Kenan Kong (Chinese Superman) who would take up the mantle of Superman?

 

[Willi Berg]

Remember when Marlon Wayans was almost Robin in Burton's Batman movies...I still wonder what that would've been like.

 

[RockSP]

I see where you're coming from. I think an Asian actor lends himself to being better casting (visually at least) than a black man as Superman. Like it or not, the visual aspect of the character is very important.

If that's the case, then an Asian guy is just as wrong as a black guy.​

I watched this as young kid growing up and can safely say you mentioning this is the first time I have ever even heard he had mixed heritage. Maybe it was just me personally but I never noticed just assumed his parents were both white.

I doubt many people knew at the time that he was part Asian. I'm sure it was no coincidence that he didn't use his real last name as his stage name. Asian actors in America are getting a little more work these days, but back then he would've been mostly unemployed and definitely not considered for lead roles.

 

[Willi Berg]

The one thing i''m puzzled with is how a race-swapped Superman would work in context of the universe. Would he be in his own else-world movie (like the Joker solo), or be in the main continuity of the DCEU?

How connected will future DCEU movies be anyway?

Would he be Clark Kent, or character like Val Zod or even Kenan Kong (Chinese Superman) who would take up the mantle of Superman?

What if he was Clark Kent, adopted by white parents (the Kents)! It could still work.

They could do an Elseworld movie like the Joker movie. Elseworlds would give them the freedom to do a lot of stories.. Even make a Red Son movie if they wanted.

I think they could do the Multiverse and multiple Supermen way down the road if they have someone who really knows about all that, knows what they're doing and has a story they want to tell.

 

[NHawk19]

After all this, how has WB still not figured out that there are certain characters who you don't deviate that far from, without bringing at best an onslaught of questions, & criticisms, and at worst trolls, hate, & vitriol?

It's still early in the process and nothing may come of this at all, but now the question of what do the Kents look like? Are we still talking farm in Kansas or something more urban? Will Lex now be a female?

Can we just move on to a really good John Stewart movie instead so we don't have to hear about this?

 

[Rorschach2012]

If that's the case, then an Asian guy is just as wrong as a black guy.​

Not really. I can easily find images where Superman could pass as an Asian man. Dean Cain had Asian heritage and played Superman. I think some of the features associated with Asian heritage resemble the classic visual interpretation of Superman more than features commonly associated with black men. I'm not opposed to a raceswap. I just want a good actor who can truly embody the character.

Sounds like Cavill isn't out just yet anyways...

 

[Willi Berg]

After all this, how has WB still not figured out that there are certain characters who you don't deviate that far from, without bringing at best an onslaught of questions, & criticisms, and at worst trolls, hate, & vitriol?

It's still early in the process and nothing may come of this at all, but now the question of what do the Kents look like? Are we still talking farm in Kansas or something more urban? Will Lex now be a female?

Can we just move on to a really good John Stewart movie instead so we don't have to hear about this?

And we know WB wouldn't even be considering this in a thoughtful way. More of a reactionary way.

 

[RockSP]

Not really. I can easily find images where Superman could pass as an Asian man. Dean Cain had Asian heritage and played Superman.

Dean Cain clearly can pass for just white. Most people didn't know and probably still don't know he's part Asian. Just like some people still don't know that Vin Diesel is half black. As long as he keeps his head shaved he can play characters that are white, unlike say Halle Berry or Shemar Moore.

I think some of the features associated with Asian heritage resemble the classic visual interpretation of Superman more than features commonly associated with black men. I'm not opposed to a raceswap. I just want a good actor who can truly embody the character.

I personally have no interest in raceswapping Superman. I mean if they cast an Asian guy or whatever so be it, but I'd rather see the black and Asian (and latino, etc.) characters that dc already has brought to the screen.

Sounds like Cavill isn't out just yet anyways...

Not surprising. The Jordan thing felt like the Idris Elba as Bond thing: something to get people's attention and get them talking about the project, but not something they were ever seriously considering.

 

[NHawk19]

And we know WB wouldn't even be considering this in a thoughtful way. More of a reactionary way.

I'm envisioning a meeting where someone said "Black Panther Superman" to describe their plan.

 

[Deck Rickard]

That's probably exactly what happened.

 

[batman44]

IF Wb was seriously mulling over a black Superman I'd prefer Alfred Enoch over Jordan. Just have him hit the gym hard.