Zack Snyder Says Casting Black Actor As Superman Is Long Overdue Move

With the rumors that Warner Bros. plans to produce a live-action film starring a Black actor as Superman now confirmed, Justice League director Zack Snyder has chimed in to praise the move by Warner Bros. While some of Snyder’s hardcore fans are upset that a new Superman franchise without Henry Cavill likely means the chances of a Man of Steel 2 go way down, the filmmaker himself says that while Henry remains his favorite Superman, he still thinks that embracing diversity in superhero movies — especially at the elite level represented by a character like Superman — is long overdue, and an exciting prospect.

Snyder praised producer JJ Abrams, and said that he was looking forward to seeing what’s up as a fan.

“My feeling is that I love JJ [Abrams], I love what he’s done in the past,” Snyder told Radio Times. “I’m interested to see what happens, it’s a bold and cool and probably long overdue move. But I love Henry [Cavill] as Superman, of course I do. He’s my Superman.”

Ray Fisher, who plays Cyborg in the Snyderverse movies, previously dismissed the move, suggesting that WarnerMedia was trying to use a Black-led movie to evade criticism for stories emerging from Warners’ investigation into Justice League reshoots director Joss Whedon. Snyder has been supportive of Fisher, but has stopped short of being sharply critical of the studio.

“I’m not really involved in any of the decision-making at Warner Brothers in any way, so I guess for me it’s just wait and see what they do with this and how it manifests itself,” Snyder said. “But on the surface, it seems interesting.”

In Zack Snyder’s Justice League, determined to ensure Superman’s (Henry Cavill) ultimate sacrifice was not in vain, Bruce Wayne (Ben Affleck) aligns forces with Diana Prince (Gal Gadot) with plans to recruit a team of metahumans to protect the world from an approaching threat of catastrophic proportions. The task proves more difficult than Bruce imagined, as each of the recruits must face the demons of their own pasts to transcend that which has held them back, allowing them to come together, finally forming an unprecedented league of heroes. Now united, Batman (Affleck), Wonder Woman (Gadot), Aquaman (Jason Momoa), Cyborg (Ray Fisher) and The Flash (Ezra Miller) may be too late to save the planet from Steppenwolf, DeSaad and Darkseid and their dreadful intentions.

You can see Zack Snyder’s Justice League — in color, or in the black-and-white “Justice is Gray” edition — on HBO Max.