Krypton Stars, Rege-Jean Page Address Casting Controversy

In the days since the announcement that he would not return for the second season of Bridgerton, [...]

By Russ Burlingame

In the days since the announcement that he would not return for the second season of Bridgerton, Regé-Jean Page has been almost constantly in the spotlight. A report yesterday, which appeared at The Hollywood Reporter and was shared by Zack Snyder's Justice League star Ray Fisher, indicated that former Warner Bros. executive Geoff Johns, who serves as a producer on Stargirl and Superman & Lois, had rejected the prospect of Page playing Seg-El on Krypton because he believed that the role of Superman's grandfather should go to a white actor, since the audience have a preconceived image of Clark Kent that the show would have to match.

Eventually, audiences learned that while Superman's grandparents -- Seg-El (Cameron Cuffe) and Nyssa Vex (Wallis Day) -- were both white, Seg also fathered a child, Dru-Zod, with the love of his life, Lyta Zod (Georgina Campbell). Both Lyta and their eventual son were people of color. Dru-Zod, who would go on to be the Superman villain General Zod, was played by Arrow veteran Colin Salmon. Page skyrocketed to fame with Bridgerton. Still, Page took to social media today to say that the specifics revealed in the report upset him, and both Cuffe and Salmon emerged to support Page with brief comments of their own.

"Hearing about these conversations hurts no less now than it did back then," Page wrote to his Twitter account. "The clarifications almost hurt more [to be honest]. Still just doing my thing. Still we do the work. We still fly."

"Regé is an inspiration to me and thousands of other artists," Cuffe wrote, quoting the Page tweet. "No one should feel okay benefiting from individuals or institutions that treat their fellow humans so unjustly. Change must happen."

For his part, Salmon had praised the original report, calling it a "powerfully important read. Not comfortable, but no change lies in comfort."

Krypton ran for two seasons on Syfy but, in spite of glowing reviews and solid ratings, was too expensive to continue at the cable company, and it was cancelled. The series is available to stream for free on CW Seed.

The cast of Krypton haven't fully disappeared from DC's multiverse, either. Showrunner Cameron Welsh developed a Lobo spinoff for Syfy which was cancelled at the same time as Krypton but which reportedly might pop up elsewhere. Cuffe was approached for a cameo appearance in The CW's "Crisis on Infinite Earths" event, but had to cancel due to a scheduling conflict. And Day recently replaced Ruby Rose in the role of Kate Kane on The CW's Batwoman.

Trending Now: