On 27 February 2021, Warner Brothers announced a new Superman feature film which is reportedly in development. Ta-Nehisi Coates, who expanded the world of Wakanda for Marvel comics will be serving as the writer for the Superman reboot feature. J.J. Abrams will produce the feature under his Bad Robot shingle and Hannah Minghella will serve as producer, working together on the Man of Steel.
Ta-Nehisi Coates, who is also an acclaimed novelist, essayist and journalist said, “To be invited into the DC Extended Universe by Warner Bros., DC Films and Bad Robot is an honor. I look forward to meaningfully adding to the legacy of America’s most iconic mythic hero.”
While producer J.J. Abrams added saying, “There is a new, powerful and moving Superman story yet to be told. We couldn’t be more thrilled to be working with the brilliant Mr. Coates to help bring that story to the big screen, and we’re beyond thankful to the team at Warner Bros. for the opportunity.
Last year, it was announced that Abrams’ Bad Robot production company is set to develop a series of films and TV shows based on DC’s Justice League Dark comics. The news arrived after Abrams closed a half-billion deal with WarnerMedia in September 2019.
Warner Bros. Pictures Group Chairman Toby Emmerich said, “Ta-Nehisi Coates’s Between the World and Me opened a window and changed the way many of us see the world. We’re confident that his take on Superman will give fans a new and exciting way to see the Man of Steel.”
The project is being set up as a Black Superman story. This is something that the studio has been trying to wrap its head around for months, if not a year or two. Michael B. Jordan tried to develop a Black Superman project when he first arrived at the studio with his deal in 2019, but that did not go very far at the time. It is possible that the studio could return to him to star down the line.
Ta-Nehisi Coates is currently working on the Ryan Coogler-directed drama Wrong Answer, which follows a math teacher in Atlanta who is scandalised when he looks to get funding for his school by altering his students’ test scores. Michael Jordan is also attached to the film.
As the national correspondent for the magazine The Atlantic, Coates covered cultural, social and political issues, specifically that of African Americans and white supremacy. His 2014 cover story for that publication, “The Case for Reparations,” started a national conversation on the subject. It was named the “Top Work of Journalism of the Decade” by New York University’s Carter School of Journalism Institute.
Plot details are being kept under wraps, and there is reportedly no director or actor attached to this new take on Superman. This would be the latest Superman-focused pic following 2013’s Man of Steel and 2016’s Batman v Superman: Dawn of Justice, with Henry Cavill playing the character.
Superman’s last portrayal on the big screen was a reprised from Henry Cavill in 2017’s Justice League, with the hero also making a brief appearance in Shazam!. Superman will also be a part of Zack Snyder’s Justice League when it debuts 18 March 2021 on HBO Max.
