Man of Reboots

  So, yet again, I had something else I wanted to write about today, but some big news broke recently in the world of pop culture (at this point I shouldn’t even try to plan these posts ahead of time anymore).

In case you were unaware, it was announced just the other day that Warner Bros. is planning a new Superman reboot film, with JJ Abrams producing and Ta-Nehisi Coates writing. No director attached yet. According to the original report, they’re looking to cast a black actor to play the titular hero, meaning that this project is likely a “hard reboot” (i.e. all of the previous films no longer count) rather than a “soft reboot” (i.e. same actors but still little-to-no reference to any of the previous films). As one could imagine, most people who are fans of the Zack Snyder DC films, and particularly Henry Cavill’s portrayal of the character, are a little upset by this news. And to an extent, so was I. While I’m all for an eventual reboot with a new actor (of any race or complexion), I wanted to see Cavill for at least one more film. As much as I dislike Snyder’s “style” (apart from a few bits and pieces here and there), I actually thought Cavill had the potential to be a decent Superman, if given a solid script and solid director to work with. For that reason alone, I was still hoping that a proper Man of Steel sequel would eventually get green-lit, and that it would be written and directed by one of the many talented filmmakers who were rumored for it (George Miller, Matthew Vaughn, Christopher McQuarrie, etc.). That being said, I’ve since had a change of heart. But to understand why, we need to backtrack a bit…

First of all, let me say this: I’m not really familiar at all with the writer attached to this project, so I can’t really comment on him too much. I do know that at one point he wrote some critically-acclaimed Captain America comics, which is a good sign, since I think many would agree that the character of Steve Rogers has a pretty similar personality and code-of-ethics to most people’s interpretations of Superman. Furthermore, Coates also wrote some successful Black Panther comics at one point, which is an interesting coincidence, since one of the actors who could be involved with this project happens to be involved with the Black Panther film franchise too (more on that later).

So let’s move on to the other big piece of this news… Superman is black now! And like I said up above, I’m fine with that. I don’t care what race the actor is. I just want them to be a fitting actor for the personality and mannerisms of the character. If it were up to me, I’d say Alden Ehrenreich would be my pick for the next Clark Kent, but if JJ and co. find an actor who’s a better fit for their vision of the character (regardless of race), then they should go with whomever they’re more confident in, and not worry about what I want (or what anyone else wants, really). Besides, who says this new Superman is even going to be Clark Kent anyways? One alternate version of the comics dealt with the son of Zod becoming Superman (and they both happen to be portrayed as black in this particular comic). It could also be Calvin Ellis instead. Who’s that, you may ask? Well, in the comics, he’s a Superman from an alternate universe, and not only is he black, but he also just so happens to be the President of the United States. And in case you’re wondering: Yes, he’s based on Barack Obama. Apparently one time Obama joked about being from Krypton and being sent here to Earth by his father, Jor-El. Presumably, the writers at DC were amused by this tongue-in-cheek remark, so they decided to make a whole comic out of it.

A few years ago, it was reported that actor Michael B. Jordan actually met WB to talk about potentially playing a new iteration of Superman. When asked about this in an interview some time later, he specifically said that he wouldn’t want to be a new version of Clark Kent, as he felt he wouldn’t be able to live up to those expectations. He had this to say right after, though: “I’ll be Calvin Ellis.” 

Whether or not this is still a possibility is still a mystery to us. I really like Jordan as an actor, so I’d be fine with him playing any version of Superman he would want to, Calvin Ellis or Val-Zod or rebooted Clark Kent or whoever. That being said, if I had to guess, he’s probably not in talks for this role anymore, as it has since been reported that his Killmonger character from Black Panther will return in the upcoming Black Panther II, and that he may even have a bigger role in that film then previously expected, due to the tragic passing of Chadwick Boseman. The means of Killmonger’s return are still unknown, though I’m guessing it’ll just be something like cloning or resurrection, or maybe they’ll pull him from an alternate universe or whatever. The point is this: I doubt Jordan would want to tackle being a new Superman, while also being some kinda spiritual successor to Black Panther, all at the same time. Personally, I like him enough that I’d be fine with him doing both things at once, if he actually wants to, and if both studios are okay with that. We’ll see what happens, though.

I suppose it’s also possible for Clark Kent and someone like Calvin Ellis to exist in the same universe as one another. We recently heard that a new version Supergirl is going to be in the upcoming Flash movie, after all. To be fair, though, that film will apparently deal with multiverse shenanigans, so that version of Supergirl is probably from an alternate universe or something. Furthermore, if Ellis or Supergirl or anyone else were to exist in the DCEU alongside Henry Cavill’s version of Kent, their origins would have to be revised a bit, so that they don’t relate directly to the destruction of Krypton. I don’t have a problem with that, personally, though I could see some diehard fans throwing a fit over that sorta thing. The original 1938 comic was actually going to have Clark Kent come from a dying Earth in the future, which I personally think sounds kinda neat (despite my general dislike of time travel in stories). I wouldn’t mind either this new reboot or some other iteration tackling this discarded version of the mythology instead, just for the sake of trying something different.

Even if this new project does turn out to be a hard reboot outside of the DCEU, who’s to say we still can’t have Cavill show up in other people’s movies? After all, we’re about to get two different versions of Batman (Ben Affleck and Michael Keaton) showing up in that Flash film, while also getting a separate Batman reboot film starring Robert Pattinson, both in 2022! I may not like having to keep track of multiple movie versions of these characters all at once, but I’ve accepted that this is just the world we live in now, so we might as well just embrace it, at this point. And who knows? Maybe we can even still get Cavill in his own film alongside this hard reboot too. I’ll admit that this is less likely, though I could see them still doing Man of Steel 2 (or Man of Tomorrow or something like that) and then at the same time trying to distinguish this other project by branding it as Superman: A New Hope (is that title taken?). Actually, if this really is gonna be a Calvin Ellis story, then Superman: New Frontier would be a fitting title, since “new frontier” is a saying that’s rooted in politics, and there’s already a DC story arc with that name anyways.

And look, maybe Zack Snyder’s Justice League, which drops this month, really is the last we will see of Henry Cavill’s incarnation of the character. And if that’s the case, so be it. Cavill has already been Superman for a decade (Man of Steel started filming in 2011), and not to be rude, but his age is starting to show. He’s balding, and sure, they can give him a hair piece eventually, but if I had to guess, WB would probably rather just keep recasting these characters with younger and younger actors. It may not always be “morally” right, but this is Hollywood we are talking about, so morality is out the window. Besides, while Cavill could’ve probably shined more with better directors and writers, he had his chance, and frankly, neither tone worked for him. Man of Steel and Batman v. Superman were both criticized for portraying Superman as “too dark,” while the 2017 version of Justice League was criticized for portraying him as “too goofy” (with or without that CGI mouth of his!). Personally, I think Superman works better as a “goofier” character, but from what I can gather in interviews, it seems like Cavill would’ve rather stuck to the “darker” tone. Which is fine, but I think it’s pretty safe to say that WB wants to mostly move away from that style now (except when it comes to Batman, of course!). And in the end, Superman is their character, not yours or mine or Cavill’s. They’re the ones who own the movie license to Superman, not us, and it is what it is.

In the end, I’ll miss Cavill more than I’ll miss Snyder. As I said several posts ago, I know Snyder originally stepped away from Justice League due to a family tragedy, so for that reason alone, I’m glad he’s finally getting the chance to realize his true vision now, but at the end of the day, he still spent years saying crap like “this movie is gonna be so much better than flavor-of-the-week Ant-Man,” among other shallow things. But whatever. He and his fans ultimately got what they wanted, so more power to them. Even if “the Snyder cut” is successful enough to get sequels approved, and this Abrams reboot gets canceled, eventually all of this shit will still be rebooted anyways, and most people will likely be on board. It’s no coincidence that the Abrams reboot was announced literally one day after that new Superman & Lois show premiered to ratings and reviews that exceeded expectations. That alone is proof that the general public is open to multiple versions of this character, sooner rather than later. There are plenty of good Superman comics that haven’t been adapted yet (Kingdom Come, All-Star Superman, For the Man Who Has Everything, etc.), so let’s adapt them. Again, we might as well just embrace all this shit, at this point…

Peace!