Fans finally have a new update on the Ta-Nehisi Coates-written Superman project featuring a black Son of Krypton. Despite many fans’ fears the film might be scrapped, DC Studios co-chair James Gunn assures fans it could work if the timing is right.
Ta-Nehisi Coates is a critically-acclaimed writer best known for his runs on Black Panther and Captain America. When it was announced that J.J. Abrams would be producing a film written by Coates about a black Man of Steel, many fans were rightfully excited. However, with the project initially announced at the start of 2021 and Warner Bros. being mostly quiet on the front since, many fans have wondered if the film went the way of the Wonder Twins and was scrapped before production even began. This fear became even more pronounced when it was announced that James Gunn would be taking his own swing at the Blue Boy Scout with Superman: Legacy. When asked if this potential conflict of interest could affect the film, Gunn assured fans that Coates’ Superman was still on the table:
“Those two things are totally unrelated,” Gunn told io9. “That’s an exciting movie. I know that Chantal Nong, who is the executive on that project, is extremely excited about it. So if it comes in and it’s great, which I haven’t read the script, and if the timing is right, that could absolutely happen. That’s totally unrelated. It would be an Elseworlds tale like Joker.”
Providing an Elseworlds universe for Ta-Nehisi Coates’ Superman may very well be the best way to go. Fans were already divided on Henry Cavill’s interpretation of Superman because of a number of key departures from his comic counterpart, so it’s likely best to cushion any drastic reinventions of the character with a more familiar version in the main continuity. Little is known about what Coates has planned for his Superman film. If his past work is any indication, however, the project will be well worth the wait.
Superman’s DC Universe Future
Superman: Legacy is a much-anticipated project, given that Clark Kent has been an integral part of the DC Universe for over 80 years, with various iterations and adaptations across different media. The movie promises to explore the character’s origins and his struggles to balance his dual identities as Clark and Superman while fighting off villains and saving the world. The choice to focus on the early years of his career is a bold move that could potentially breathe new life into the character and appeal to a younger generation of fans.
James Gunn and Peter Safran told journalists that their vision for the DC Universe includes locked scripts, wiggle room and a unified storyline across film, television, animation and video game projects. The two explained that the DC Universe could bring back elements from previous DC regimes, meaning that their eight-to-year plan is not a full reboot.
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