Warner Bros. announced in February that it’s developing a new movie with J.J. Abrams and writer Ta-Neshi Coates featuring a Black Superman, and fans have been spe*ulating who should play him. The Good Place star William Jackson Harper recently learned that a petition surfaced online to suggest him for the role, which took him by surprise.
The 41-year-old actor was promoting his role on Amazon’s The Underground Railroad on Jimmy Kimmel Live Tuesday evening, when he revealed the petition ‘bli*dsi!ed’ him. ‘It definitely blin*side! me. I was doing another interview and this guy was like yeah, this (tweet) got 55,000 likes. Like, what, why?!
Who knows me?’ Harper jok-ed. ‘I mean, that would be d-ope. That would be the best thing that could happen to me, to be able to play Superman.
I don’t wanna do the di-et or the exercise part, but yeah,’ he joked. Kimmel jok-ed that fans may have g!avitat-ed towards Harper because his character Chidi on The Good Place wore glasses, like Superman’s alter-ego Clark Kent. ‘I think so.
That’s gotta be the only explanation, ’cause otherwise I’m just a nerdy professor dude,’ Harper added. The Black Superman project was first announced back in February, with Ta-Neshi Coates writing the script and J.J. Abrams producing.
There was another report in May that also revealed Coates is expected to turn in his draft of the screenplay by December, and revealing Warner Bros. is committed to finding a B*** director for the project.
While no filmmaker has been singled out yet, a number of prominent B**ck filmmakers were mentioned. Directors such as Regina King (One Night in Miami), Barry Jenkins (Moonlight), Ryan Coogler (Bla-ck Panther), Stephen Caple Jr.
(Cr*ed II), J.D. Dillard (Sleight) and Shaka King (Judas and the Black Messiah) were mentioned as possible contenders. No specifics were given about the story, though it’s possible it could follow a Bl-a-ck Superman character featured in the DC Comics.
As for the Bl-ac-k Superman movie, no s!ecifics were given, though there was a Black Superman who was featured in the comics.
The Bl-a-ck Superman was named Calvin Ellis, a Kryptonian who had become President of the United States of America. The character debuted in Final Crisis #7 in March 2009, created by Grant Morrison and Doug Mahnk, with Morrison later admitting the character is inspired by Barack Obama.