The Curious Case of the Many Black Supermen

As Warner Bros. haphazardly tries to revitalize interest in its DC films, they have made some interesting moves. Many of which include moving away from its shared universe and making more separate standalone films like Joker and 2022’s upcoming The Batman. And if you’ve been paying attention these last few weeks, there’s the curious case of the new Superman project in development; a project produced by J.J. Abrams, written by acclaimed author Ta-Nehisi Coates, and set to feature a Black Superman. Now, the mention of a Black Superman is enough to light up any discourse, and there’s only more to discuss until this movie finally drops. The latest bit of news paints an interesting picture of what the film might be. Yes, we are getting a Black Superman and if the reports are correct, we are once again following the story of Clark Kent/Kal-El. It’s a strange choice, especially when it feels like we are in an era where origin stories for well-established characters are unnecessary. With Coates behind the script, there’s a good chance that we will get something compelling. However, one can’t help but feel like this is a missed opportunity. It’s not only a strange choice to once again revisit the origin of Clark Kent’s Superman but strange when there are several other Black Supermen from DC that already exist. It got me thinking. Not just about DC Comics’ various Black Supermen but the other Superman types in comics. Most importantly though, it made me think about the very idea of wha…