Ta-Nehisi Coates' Superman Movie Produced By J.J. Abrams Could Still Happen
The hierarchy of Supermen is getting more confusing by the minute, but given the current state of the DC universe, that shouldn't really come as a surprise. At the moment, everything seems to be in flux over at Warner Bros., especially when it comes to their crime-fighting crusaders. The recent appointment of James Gunn and Peter Safran as the co-heads of DC Studios means that its superhero slate is being almost entirely remade — in fact, we recently learned that they've settled on a lineup that will likely be announced in 2023. So while we continue scratching our heads about the oft-delayed titles still expected to hit theaters at some point soon ("The Flash," "Aquaman and the Lost Kingdom"), big moves are happening behind-the-scenes.
The question currently on everyone's mind centers around none other than DC headliner, Superman. Who will don the cape and Clark Kent glasses next? For a while, Henry Cavill seemed like the obvious answer — he even cleared his schedule to prepare for the role. But last night, we learned that Superman is getting the reboot treatment with an upcoming film penned by James Gunn. Instead of continuing the story from "Man of Steel," the new project will begin with a young Superman's arrival in Metropolis. But this isn't the only Superman project that remains in development.
Back in 2021, it was announced that Ta-Nehisi Coates would pen the script for a new Superman movie produced by J.J. Abrams. Plot details were kept under wraps, but the film was expected to feature a Black actor as Superman with a story in the vein of the original comics, possibly taking place in the 20th century. Back in April, Coates was said to be close to completing the script. But with Gunn and Safran wiping the slate clean, should we wave goodbye to our hopes for a Black Superman? Evidently, the answer is no.
DC giveth and DC taketh away
According to Variety, James Gunn's new movie "will not replace the previously announced J.J. Abrams-Ta-Nehisi Coates Superman concept (which is still in active development)."
At this point, when it comes to anything vaguely related to Warner Bros, I have trust issues. The optimistic read on this news is simple: since Coates' film focuses on an entirely different version of Superman, then there's no need to worry about overlap. Meanwhile, another "Man of Steel" movie happening at the same time as a Superman reboot would have been confusing. So maybe Coates' vision will come to fruition after all ... or maybe there's simply been no official word about killing it. Maybe a script will be finished and locked in a vault somewhere while DC plays around in a new sandbox — we'll have to wait and see how things shake out.
It would certainly be a shame to see this fall apart. A new cinematic take on the Superman mythic would have been much appreciated, especially one from the perspective of a Black writer. And Coates was an exciting choice to make it happen: his impressive resume includes being the writer of the acclaimed comic runs of Black Panther and Captain America, authoring award-winning books like "Between the World and Me," and being a writer for The New York Times Magazine and The Washington Post. This would have marked his first screenplay, so hopefully we get a closer look at his vision for the Man of Steel.
Anyway, it wasn't too long ago that DC was fully embracing the idea of having different versions of each character co-exist — Battinson and Batfleck, or Joaquin Phoenix's Joker at the same time as Jared Leto's. There's still room for two Supermen, if only the new DC slate allows it to happen.