‘Superman’ Reboot Coming From Producer J. J. Abrams
A new iteration of Superman is in the works at Warner Bros., with J.J. Abrams coming in as a producer.
Shadow and Act is reporting that Ta-Nehisi Coates is penning the script for the reboot. Henry Cavill is not attached as of now, and there are no details about the plot of the movie. Hannah Minghella is producing alongside Abrams. The Hollywood Reporter has verified this report and is now indicating that the movie is being approached as a “Black Superman” story, meaning that it may focus on a different iteration of the character like Kalel/Calvin Ellis or Val-Zod, rather than Kal-El/Clark Kent. DC Films are making use of the Multiverse as a storytelling mechanism, and the freedom that that grants them means that they can potentially have multiple actors playing Superman at once. It seems unlikely that Cavill is playing Superman in a lead role due to his commitment to The Witcher (a show that films year-round) and now apparently a Mass Effect project, but cameos and supporting roles in future films seem to be within the realm of reason for him.
Coates has currently no screenwriting credits. He is attached to write the upcoming Wrong Answer, a new movie from Ryan Coogler. However, since the director is supposed to begin shooting Black Panther II this summer, it seems unlikely that that movie is getting done in the next couple of years. It might even be possible that the new Superman movie comes our first. He has a large resume in terms of non-fiction books, and he also wrote two comic runs for Marvel. Additionally, he has a “special thanks” credit in Black Panther, Avengers: Infinity War, and Avengers: Endgame, which draw elements from his run on the Black Panther comic book series.
This is not the only project Abrams is developing in the DC world. Back in 2019, he signed an exclusive deal with the studio to develop creative content through to 2024. Early last year, it was reported that he’d be working on a Justice League Dark-related slate of films and TV shows, and just recently, word got out he is also developing a Constantine series for HBO Max. His plate is certainly full and a new Superman movie is not exactly an easy job. We’ll have to see how this develops.
Even though Abrams’ films have come for the most part with mixed reactions from the fanbase, and sometimes critics too, there is no denying he brings success. He made the highest-grossing movie in the U.S., Star Wars: The Force Awakens, which also joined the $2 billion club, and then managed to make yet another billion-dollar movie in Star Wars: The Rise of Skywalker, despite a polarizing reaction from the fans and the movie scoring the lowest critic rating on Rotten Tomatoes of any Star Wars movie, including The Phantom Menace and Attack of the Clones.
Nevertheless, he is known for reigniting the light of every franchise he touches. He reinvented Star Trek, although he pretty much turned it into Star Wars, then he also managed to make a movie in The Force Awakens that was vastly accepted by both fans and critics (those are the numbers, despite a very vocal minority on Twitter trashing the movie), and before all of that, he reinvented television with Lost, and the Mission Impossible franchise (although his movie is almost as bad as MI: II in my opinion). From a studio perspective, it makes sense to hand him the Superman character.
Miguel Fernández is a Spanish student that has movies as his second passion in life. His favorite movie of all time is The Lord of the Rings, but he is also a huge Star Wars fan. However, fantasy movies are not his only cup of tea, as authors like Scorsese, Fincher, Kubrick or Hitchcock have been an obsession for him since he started to understand the language of filmmaking. He is that guy who will watch a black and white movie, just because it is in black and white.
