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Why Ta-Nahesi Coates Is Such a Strong Choice for Superman

Just a few weeks before Warner Bros. revisits a previous Superman—the version played by Henry Cavill in Zack Snyder’s Justice League—and the same week the CW debuted a new series called Superman & Lois, starring Tyler Hoechlin as the Man of Steel, DC is doubling down on its commitment to the idea of a multiverse by announcing a new project centering on Superman—written by essayist and Black Panther comics writer Ta-Nehisi Coates, and produced by J.J. Abrams. Is earth ready for this many Kryptonians? 

The answer, probably, is yes. Those who may be confused by the concept of the multiverse should revisit the Oscar-winning animated film Into the Spider-Verse, in which several different versions of Marvel’s famed web-slinger co-existed all at once. Warner Bros. and D.C. have recently gone all in on the multiverse concept, not only in with their popular CW TV shows, but in the world of film as well. That’s how you can have Ben Affleck’s Batman at the same time as Robert Pattinson’s Batman at the same time as Michael Keaton’s Batman at the same time as Jared Leto’s Joker at the same time as Joaquin Phoenix’s Joker, without worrying about pesky things like continuity. 

But if superhero fatigue set in just by reading that sentence, rest assured that Coates and Abrams, at least, seem to have something fresh up their sleeves. The Hollywood Reporter has no exact details on the project other than it allegedly centers on a Black Superman. But that element alone is a fresher spin than that character has had onscreen in a long time. Rather than going to traditional trade outlets, Coates chose to break the news via Shadow and Act, a website dedicated to covering the African diaspora in the arts. This choice might indicate that his version of Kal-El will very directly engage with his Black identity. 

None of this should come as a surprise, considering Coates’s resume. The Vanity Fair contributing editor has written a popular run of the Black Panther comic, as well as acclaimed books such as We Were Eight Years in Power: An American Tragedy, The Beautiful Struggle, The Water Dancer, and Between the World and Me. His work about the legacy of President Obama might come in handy if his Black Superman happens to be based on Calvin Ellis, a comic book Man of Steel who also happens to be president—and is, yes, based directly on Obama himself

“There is a new, powerful and moving Superman story yet to be told. We couldn’t be more thrilled to be working with the brilliant Mr. Coates to help bring that story to the big screen, and we’re beyond thankful to the team at Warner Bros. for the opportunity,” J.J. Abrams said in the statement to S&A.

But while Coates may seem a natural fit for this project, he’s spoken in the past about having little interest in DC heroes. In 2015, when asked which DC comics he had read, Coates told Vulture:

None. I don’t know why I don’t read DC. I don’t even have a good argument. Here’s what I’ll say: For reasons right or wrong, you’ll see the lead character for DC is Superman. So, truth, justice, and the American way. And, not even consciously, I just kind of said, Hmm, maybe not. Then you pick up X-Men,right, and you see all these weirdos and freaks, you know? And you think, Oh, man, that kind of rings true for me. When I was a kid, I didn’t even think of Peter Parker as white. It didn’t even occur to me.

At the time, Coates identified Superman most closely with the character’s Jewish creators, Joe Shuster and Jerry Siegel. In an interview with his own outlet, The Atlantic, Coates said: “The Jews have plenty of superheroes—Superman (though sort of passing) for starters. With that said, a Genius does not discriminate. If I wrote a Jewish superhero he’d have awesome time-traveling powers. I’d call him Doctorow.”

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