Following last year’s (still unconfirmed) reports that Henry Cavill’s time as Superman had come to an end, a rumour starting circling from Deadline claiming that Warner Bros. and DC Films were mulling over the possibility of taking the Man of Steel in a completely different direction, potentially casting Fantastic Four and Black Panther star Michael B. Jordan in the role of the iconic superhero.
Well, appearing on Oprah Winfrey’s show, Jordan was asked about the rumours, with the actor suggesting that he would be keen to portray Superman, albeit not the traditional Clark Kent version of the Man of Steel.
“Yeah, that was a rumor, I heard that, I heard a few rumours buzzing around, I think just to be in those conversations, it’s flattering,” said Jordan. “It’s tough. I hate being a businessman and understanding both sides of the situation and I think there’s a huge upside to it but then there’s just being under that microscope and being picked apart and compared to so many different versions of Superman. I would rather do something original… I’ll be Calvin Ellis. You know there’s another version of Superman from Earth-23. You know, I’m a comic book guy. There’s another version of Superman in another dimension that is black already in the comic books, and I think the comic book purists can accept that more than me being Clark Kent from Kansas.”
Watch Jordan discussing Superman here…
Created by Grant Morrison and Doug Mahnk and based upon President Barack Obama, Calvin Ellis – or Kalel, to go by his Kryptonian name – is the Superman of Earth-23, where he also serves as the President of the United States.
Given Warner and DC’s shift away from the DCEU to more standalone stories, it’s certainly not beyond the realm of possibility that we’ll see a diferent incarnation of Superman on the big screen at some point in time. Would you like to see Michael B. Jordan portraying the Calvin Ellis incarnation of the Man of Steel? Let us know in the comments below or tweet us @FlickeringMyth…