Michael B. Jordan Responds to Superman Rumors, Says He Would Play Calvin Ellis

When rumors that Henry Cavill would be exiting the role of Superman hit last year, fans immediately started trying to sort out who could be the next Man of Steel and Black Panther star Michael B. Jordan frequently made those lists. Now, is responding to the suggestion with a surprising one of his own.

Jordan sat down with Oprah Winfrey for an upcoming episode of her SuperSoul Conversations and, in a clip, you can check out above, he explained that he’s “flattered” by the idea that people want him to play Superman, though he’d rather play a different iteration of the Last Son of Krypton — Calvin Ellis.

“It’s tough. I hate being a business man and understanding both sides of the situation,” Jordan said. “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.”

Jordan, who told Winfrey that he is “a comic book guy”, went on to explain that Ellis is a version of Superman, just from a different Earth.

In comics, Calvin Ellis is the Superman of Earth-23. Created by Grant Morrison and Dough Mahnke and making his debut in the 2009 event Final Crisis, Calvin was modeled on both President Barack Obama and boxer Muhammad Ali. Like the more familiar version of Superman, Calvin was born on Krypton (birth name Kalel) and sent by his parents Jorel and Lara into the depths of space before the planet’s destruction. He landed on Earth where he was taken in by the Ellis family and raised to always stand up for himself and for what is right, ultimately becoming Superman when his powers emerged. On Earth-23, Calvin also became President of the United States.

With Calvin being both black and not a “traditional” version of the iconic DC character, Jordan explained that he feels like “comic book purists” would have an easier time accepting him as that character as opposed to Clark Kent.

“There’s another version of Superman in another dimension that is black already in the comic books. That exists,” he said. “I think the comic book purists would accept that more than me being Clark Kent from Kansas.”

Even with the character being perhaps “easier” for some to accept, we still can’t help but wonder what Jordan’s take on Superman might look like. As fans saw with his performance as Killmonger in Black Panther, the actor brings a lot to the characters he plays, so much so that he not only won two of ComicBook.com’s 2018 Golden Issue Awards — Best Actor and Best First Appearance — but took home Outstanding Performance by a Cast in a Motion Picture at the SAG Awards along with his Black Panther costars as well.

What do you think about the idea of Michael B. Jordan playing Calvin Ellis — or any iteration of Superman? Let us know in the comments below.