Even before it was announced that writer Ta-Nehisi Coates was penning a new Superman movie with J.J. Abrams producing many fans have been eager to see Michael B. Jordan suit up as the Kryptonian hero. With that film now officially in the works the call for him to take on the part as only grown louder, but with an ever growing schedule of his own, would it even be possible. Jordan was asked about his familiarity with Coates and any potential Superman conversations they might have had in a new interview, and though he seemed to indicate they haven’t talked about the Man of Steel, they do know each other and he likes people thinking he should play the part.
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“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 told MTV News in a new interview. “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.”
Jordan also spoke about just the image of a black Superman appearing on the big screen in any capacity, even if it wasn’t him in the part.
“I think from that perspective it’s cool to see a powerful black man and heroic character and be larger than life and be super,” he added. “I think it’s symbolic on a lot of different levels. In that regard that would be pretty cool.”
Reports on the Coates, Abrams Superman project indicated that it’s being developed to have a black actor in the title role but there’s been no indication from Warner Bros. or any of the parties involved who they might be looking at to take on the part. It’s also unclear what continuity this new Superman will be set in, be it the larger “DCEU” where Henry Cavill’s Clark Kent lives or if it will exist on its own earth.
Fans have long theorized that should Jordan take the part his version of Superman might be modeled on Calvin Ellis, the Superman of Earth-23 created by Grant Morrison and Dough Mahnke. Calvin was previously modeled on both President Barack Obama and boxer Muhammad Ali, and in the context of the comics was not only his Earth’s Superman but also the President of the United States.
