At the end of February, we discovered that Warner Bros. was developing a Superman reboot from producer J.J. Abrams and it later became clear that the movie would star a black actor as the Man of Steel. This led fans to believe that they may be getting a big screen adaptation of either Val-Zod or Calvin Ellis from the comics. However, the latest report on the topic says it’s neither of these characters. And it’s not Clark Kent, either. Rather, WB’s new Superman is apparently an original character.
Giant Freakin Robot has shared that the protagonist of the reboot will be a totally new creation for the film. Marvel Comics writer Ta-Nehisi Coates is on board to pen the script and it seems that he’s impressed the studio with his bold innovative vision for the mythos, which includes devising an all-new hero to don the cape and tights. Any specific character details about Coates’ Superman have yet to be revealed, though, so we don’t know how much he’s going to keep from the classic versions of the Big Blue Boy Scout and what he’s going to throw out.
With such a wealth of source material to choose from, it’s unusual for superhero movies to create all-new characters, but DC is definitely doing more of it as of late. 2019’s Joker essentially devised a completely different Clown Prince of Crime, with Joaquin Phoenix playing the hitherto-unknown Arthur Fleck. And, in a case that’s more reflective of this Superman news, TV’s Batwoman just created Ryan Wilder, the first African-American woman to take on that mantle.
Michael B. Jordan remains the favorite to lead the reboot and has said that he’d love to play Calvin Ellis in a movie, but in the same interview, he also made clear that he’d most want to do something new with the character, so portraying an original iteration of the hero would no doubt appeal to him as well. The Creed star has yet to actually be formally attached to the production, although it’s believed he’s WB’s top choice.
Superman is returning, make no mistake about it, but like we’ve never seen him before…
