For the first few films of the DCEU, Warner Bros. made Superman into the star of the franchise. But after a string of disappointing outings – not to mention Henry Cavill’s reported departure from the role – it appears that a shakeup’s in order, and that could mean putting Clark Kent’s saga on ice for the foreseeable future.
If you ask writer, director, and podcaster Kevin Smith, however, Warner would do better to keep the Man of Steel alive. Speaking on his podcast not too long ago, the filmmaker urged the studio to keep making Superman movies and now, he’s even offered up a few suggestions for who could replace Cavill in the role.
First up, Smith commented on the recent rumors of Michael B. Jordan of Black Panther fame possibly taking over, and it seems as if he’s totally on board with that.
“I’ll be honest with you, when they said Michael B. Jordan the other day, I was like, ‘Yes, do it, do it.’ And that’s not even a new, like, f— progressive idea.”
“When I was working on Superman in 1996, Will Smith was floated as Superman. And I was like, ‘Oh my God, f— do it,’” Smith said. “And to be fair, that came from [producer] Jon Peters. John Peters was like, ‘Will Smith should play this role.’”
It’s not only Jordan that Smith has in mind, though, as he also threw his support behind both Chris Pratt and John Krasinski.
“Like here — Chris Pratt seems like an ideal Superman, kinda. In terms of personality, seems like a big cuddly kid, likes everybody, and stuff like that.”.
“Krasinski is a great f— pull, too, man. Krasinski has like a Chris Reeve thing going on, excellent f— job,” Smith said. “Krasinski is a really good f— pull. And you let him direct that sh-t as well! But you make him put dialogue in it this time. That’s a really good idea.”
While we agree with a lot of what Smith says here, at this point, it’s tough to predict what Warner has lined up for Superman, with the studio themselves remaining pretty ambiguous on whether or not Cavill has actually left the role. Regardless, we imagine that the Man of Steel will be returning to the big screen somewhere down the line, albeit probably after a longer period of silence than we’re used to.
Cavill’s inevitable replacement probably won’t be announced for a while, either, as don’t forget, WB is currently much more focused on bringing Supergirl to cinemas yet again, so it’s highly advised that you not hold your breath for any news on Superman to surface for a long while. Still, as soon as something does arise, we’ll be sure to let you know.
