Superstar Dwayne Johnson, who will soon launch his own superhero franchise when he joins the DC Universe as Black Adam, believes audiences could “one day” see a black Superman on the big screen.
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“I think they’re doing great, I think obviously Marvel has done a tremendous job in building out. And also, for me, we’re doing Black Adam with Warner Brothers and DC, we’re very excited about that,” Johnson told Variety at the Hollywood premiere of Fast & Furious Presents: Hobbs & Shaw when asked about the industry’s efforts behind diversity and inclusion in the superhero genre.
“I think as everything builds and grows, and you take the temperament of society and what’s happening, and I think here in Hollywood — especially with franchises and characters and publicly traded companies who are sensitive to that kind of thing — so yeah, I think they’re doing a great job.”
Johnson added with a wink and a smile, “And maybe one day we will see a black Superman. You’re looking at him.”
Hobbs & Shaw, also executive produced by Johnson, pits Johnson’s Luke Hobbs and Jason Statham’s Deckard Shaw against Brixton (Idris Elba), a “cyber-genetically enhanced” villain who refers to himself as “black Superman.”
In February, after rumors surfaced in September claiming Warner Bros. was considering replacing Superman star Henry Cavill with Black Panther star Michael B. Jordan, the actor told Oprah Winfrey he was “flattered” but admitted he wouldn’t want to play black Clark Kent, a.k.a. Krypton’s last son Kal-El.
“It’s tough. I hate being a business man and understanding both sides of the situation,” Jordan said on Winfrey’s SuperSoul Conversations.
“There is a huge upside to it, but being under that microscope, being picked apart and compared to so many different versions of Superman… I would rather do something original. I’ll be Calvin Ellis.”
Ellis is an Elseworlds interpretation of the traditional Superman character: in an alternate universe, dubbed Earth-23, Ellis is a black man and that world’s Superman. He’s also a Kryptonian, named Kalel, and is president of the United States.
Johnson again teams with his Jungle Cruise director Jaume Collet-Serra on Black Adam, which has yet to be dated by Warner Bros. Hobbs & Shaw opens August 2.
