In an interview with Oprah, actor Michael B. Jordan responded to the rumors that he was in line to replace Henry Cavill in the role of Superman in any upcoming film about the Man of Steel.
The rumor circulated around the internet back in September 2018 when, according to Deadline.com, Warner Bros. was contemplating going in a completely different direction with its Superman franchise, even considering casting Michael B. Jordan in the role down the road. With many fans already thinking Warner Bros. shifted too far away from comic book canon with the recent Cavill films, this rumor seemed unlikey. And it seems Jordan agrees…
When Oprah states, “There’s been this buzz that you’re going to be the next Superman.” at first the 31-year-old actor simply replied, “I think just to be in this conversation, it’s flattering and very humbling.”
However, when pushed further Jordan explains, “Just being under that microscope of being picked apart and compared to so many different versions of Superman, I would rather do something original,” he said.
Although, showing his comic book knowledge, Jordan did reveal he’d be interested in playing a different version of Superman… Calvin Ellis, a black version of Superman from a different Earth already established in the comic books.
been watching him since the wire and Friday night lights and I think he’s a phenomenal actor and he can be picky with whatever part he wants. Sounds like he wouldn’t want the gig even if it was offered though. I love that he referenced Ellis. He knows his stuff.
Im still hoping they can work something out with henry, but sounds like they’re just moving forward with supergirl.
I wouldn’t mind a black Superman, but I would mind a Michael B Jordan Superman. I haven’t seen too much from the guy, but he didn’t sell me on the otherwise fantastic “Creed”.
Regardless, he brings up a really good point. Whether they keep Henry in the long term or they replace him, the next Superman we are going to see is going to be an extremely safe take on the character. For the foreseeable future, they won’t be taking any risks of any type.
Granted…Michael B. Jordan was the butt of jokes during the beginning of his career…but He Has me sold on his performances from the very beginning. The man is truly a very crafty actor. I’d believe he’d make a credible Calvin Ellis should the project gets a go. Maybe he can cross over with Clark Kent given the right screen treatment.
I wonder what he would say if was offered the Calvin Ellis Superman or the Val-Zod Superman role. I think that it would be interesting to see Michael play either of those characters. They haven’t had any screen adaptions of Calvin or Val, so it would be an original take on Superman.
Calvin is even less known to the mainstream than Miles Morales and has less history. Having said that, they could absolutely pull a “Into the Spider-Verse”, seeing how keen Warner’s is in doing everything Marvel does, as long as it’s successful. There’s three tons of alternate Superman versions they could get in there and it would reignite interest in and positive feedback for the character, especially among younger audiences. In that context, they could get Jordan to do the voice for a start and see if they can move to a proper live-action version somewhere down the line.
Sorry. Big NO from me. I tired of seeing all these various established roles twisted into(fake) “correctness” for the sake of race relations. If something like this were to ever become a reality I can only hope it’s when I’m dead!
He would make a great Steel though. I would go to the movies to see that.
Phew. Though I wouldn’t say no to him being Val-Zod Superman, heck I think he’d make a great John Henry Irons/Steel… anyone’s better than Shaq. But given how well he did Cyborg in DCAU Flashpoint and of course his epic turn as Killmonger in Black Panther he’d definitely be welcome in the DCEU.
I’d be down for him to play Jon Stewart. Him or Idris Elba.
I think he’d make a dope af Superman proper, but if he’s no way wanting that role, let him be the Elseworlds (basically) Calvin Superman, or Earth-2 Superman II or hell, even Steel himself!
Yeah, as NeoRanger pointed out, I can’t see WB wanting to court any more controversy, coming off of the most divisive live-action Superman we’ve yet seen.
That said, I’d be TOTALLY down for MBJ as Steel.
Bring it on.
So he possibly said no to the Kal-el Superman, but maybe he would possibly be interested in the Calvin Ellis Superman? Am I understanding this correctly?
I think if or not a non-white actor would work as Clark Kent would depend very greatly on that particular individual who was chosen. After all you can’t just put any white dude with black wavy hair in that costume and have it work either.
As for Jordan playing Calvin Ellis or Val-Zod, I think could sooner see him as Val and doing that for a Into The Spider-Verse sort of adventure could be cool, but don’t play Clark for dad-bod jokes or anything like that.
I agree with you. I think an actor of any ethnicity could transcend any role. I Know Dean Cain wasn’t one hundred percent white and that never once bother me, nor did I ever hear of it bothering anyone else because he was such a good Clark Kent.
Probably because most people didn’t know. Either way he still looked the part and there is a big difference between a half white/ half phillipino actor portraying a white character and a black guy portraying a white character. For lesser characters it really isn’t a huge deal, take Heimdall for example, he had maybe 6 lines of dialogue until Ragnarok and even then there was a lot of backlash. You make such drastic changes to an iconic character like Superman and the $#!+ shall hit the fan. That’s why Will Smith turned down the roll years ago, he knew that… Read more »
I’m not disagreeing with you that there would be backlash. My point is that whoever they cast should/could truly embody the character regardless of race. I don’t think they should neither change the ethnicity for changes sake nor cast the hot actor at the moment. It would have to be someone that you see audition and can’t imagine anyone else playing it. Will smith would never work regardless of race because he’s will smith in every action role. I’ve heard that he also turned down the matrix and race didn’t even matter inthat movie and I can’t imagine him fitting… Read more »