If all goes to plan, Ta-Nehisi Coates should be turning in his initial Superman draft to the powers that be at Warner Brothers soon. Coates is in the process of writing a film said to feature a new take on the Last Son of Krypton, and insiders now say Coates will have the draft in shortly. The latest reports come from The Ankler’s Jeff Sneider, who revealed the news on his Twitter Monday afternoon.
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“Speaking of Superman, The Ankler hears that Ta-Nehisi Coates will be turning in a draft of his screenplay…soon,” Sneider tweeted.
Fellow insider Justin Kroll then followed up to Sneider’s tweet, suggesting that “soon” could be upwards of months. “Soon in industry translates to 4-16 weeks as I heard I’m [sic] February [it] was coming in soon too,” he tweeted. “This isn’t meant to be snarky it jut feels like something reps tell execs as a stall tactic if client is taking their time on a draft. 20 still waiting for Planet of the Apes draft which I’ve heard would be in ‘soon’ going back to November.”
Coates’ take on Superman is said to include a Black actor in the lead role, though it’s not clear if the film will still use Kal-El Superman or a different version such as Val-Zod.
“To be invited into the DC Extended Universe by Warner Bros., DC Films and Bad Robot is an honor,” Coates previously toldย Shadow & Act, who announced the project. “I look forward to meaningfully adding to the legacy of America’s most iconic mythic hero.”
After much speculation on Michael B. Jordan potentially stepping into the role, the actor broke his silence in an interview with MTV News, saying this movie is one he’ll watch rather than act in.
“He was responsible for the reboot of the Black Panther comic books that Ryan (Coogler) worked closely to adapt and he’s an incredible writer,” Jordan said last spring. “Yeah, I know him for sure. I’m flattered to be a part of all these conversations and rumors, you know better than anything else how many things I’ve been rumored to play, it’s a lot. There’s but so mcuh time in the day and days in the year. It’s just flattering that people still think of me in that type of way, to be able to play these characters and want me to to some degree. I’ll just leave it at that.”
The project has yet to set a release date.
