J.J. Abrams and Ta-Nehisi Coates' Black Superman reboot is reportedly still in active development at Warner Bros. Discovery. The DC brand has had a big shake-up in 2022 as Warner Bros. Discovery completed its massive merger earlier this year. On the small screen, The CW lost multiple DC TV shows as the network is getting a new majority stake owner. Over on the cinematic side for DC, Warner Bros. Discovery canceled the Batgirl movie despite the film having already finished principal photography in late March.
While the DCEU is still moving forward, there has been a lot of uncertainty despite Warner Bros. Discovery CEO David Zaslav promising there is a 10-year plan for the DC IPs. Black Adam, which opened in theaters this week, was the only DCEU installment for 2022, as The Flash, Shazam! Fury of the Gods and Aquaman and the Lost Kingdom all got pushed back to 2023. Outside the main DCEU continuity, Warner Bros. Discovery has Joker: Folie à Deux getting ready to start principal photography, and The Batman 2 is also in active development. However, another non-DCEU project that the studio has been working on is a Superman reboot, which would feature a Black iteration of the Man of Steel from filmmaker J.J. Abrams and screenwriter Ta-Nehisi Coates.
Even though there have been little to no updates on the Black Superman project, The Hollywood Reporter revealed that the film is still moving forward at Warner Bros. Discovery. Even though Abrams' role with the studio is unclear at this point, especially as several of his WB-produced projects have been canceled or looking for new platforms, the trade specified that he is still on track to produce Coates' new Superman film. There is still no update on where they are at with the script and casting, as well as who would direct the Black Superman reboot.
Why There Can Be Multiple Superman In Live-Action At The Same Time
The news that a Black Superman reimagination is still happening comes at the same time as reports about the studio looking to develop Man of Steel 2 for Henry Cavill's version of the DC icon. Even though there are no clear release dates for either project, there is no reason why both films couldn't exist at the same time. One of the concepts that the DCEU is beginning to lean more into is the multiverse, allowing multiple DC franchises to utilize various characters from the DC Universe, which will be a crucial aspect of The Flash movie. Since Coates' Superman movie would be set on a new Earth, it doesn't conflict with the DCEU, allowing the reboot to explore a Black iteration of Krypton's last son while Cavill reprises his iteration in Man of Steel 2.
It's also worth remembering that The CW still has Superman & Lois on the air, and HBO Max is developing a Val-Zod series with Michael B. Jordan as an executive producer, focusing on a different Man of Steel from Earth-2. In theory, if all of these projects are ongoing in the next few years, there could be four different interpretations of Superman in live-action, both on the big and small screens. Everything can co-exist at the same time without one property suffering because of the other, as it allows consumers to pick and choose what resonates with them. With the recent departure of DC Films boss Walter Hamada, time will tell if Abrams and Coates' Black Superman movie will happen, as things could still fall apart depending on what happens with Warner Bros. Discovery and their plans for the DC properties in the coming years.
Source: THR
