The Case for a Black Superman

The DCEU’s in a rough spot currently. None of its entries, save Wonder Woman, have seen critical success, despite its box-office being pretty strong. And its behind-the-scenes complications have soured people’s outlook, to the point where investors even view it to be poisonous. It doesn’t help that there’s no unifying vision, unlike The MCU, which has led to Warner Bros. abandoning the shared universe idea. And then, to top it off, we have Henry Cavill’s announcement that he’s dropping Superman and moving on.

Uh-oh.

This is a big deal. Like, really big. Henry Cavill leaving the role that made him popular is like Robert Downey Jr. leaving Iron Man: irrespective of quality, they’re the lynchpins of their franchises. Except that Downey’s had 10 years to flesh-out Tony Stark, such that him leaving, while sad, would be inevitable at this point. Cavill doesn’t have that luxury, and The DCEU is in further shambles because of it.

I’d end there, however, had it not been for his replacement. There’ve been several suggestions of candidates to take up the mantle, but one in particular has people talking. And it’s not all good talk: Michael B. Jordan has a shot at Superman, and fans are furious. That’s right, people are mad that a black man might play a role traditionally reserved for white men. Oh dear.

It’s no secret that nerds are…well, insular. For a few years, gamers used GamerGate, a brand dead-set on promoting “ethics in game’s journalism”, to harass women/minority developers and gamers for the sole reason that they were women/minorities. And recently, comic nerds formed ComicsGate to do the same to publishers and comic artists. Nerd-dom loves its boy’s club and cherishes it like a prized vessel, so hearing that they’re mad that Superman might be played by a black actor doesn’t, and shouldn’t, surprise anyone.

What’s surprising is that this decision hasn’t been made sooner. Let’s face facts: the West is becoming increasingly diversified. Certain subsets might pretend otherwise, but, according to sites like N-IUSSP, the US has become increasingly diversified since 1980, with immigration and globalization playing huge parts in why. That’s not to speak of the dozens of articles on Google’s search engine that speak of this trend. So if diversity’s the new norm, then entertainment, which caters to the masses, would reflect this, right?

Well...no. I’ve covered this in greater detail, but entertainment, Hollywood in particular, seems to be taking minuscule steps at proper representation despite their claims of being a “liberal haven for all”. This trickles down to casting, which is still a big source of contention when it comes to whitewashing and ableism. It links to the concern that diverse leads “don’t sell well”, even though this year’s box office alone disproves that. Hollywood, on some level, still has one foot planted in the past, to its own detriment.

This shows up specifically in how they cast their leads: white people first, everyone else second. And it’s not only superheroes that have this problem; after all, how many people were in arms when Idris Elba was hinted as a potential successor to James Bond? A lot! According to fans, either the character they love is portrayed how they love, or they’re not portrayed at all. No exceptions!

It’s a really unhealthy way of looking at art. Ignoring the racist component, characters in fiction are exactly that: fiction. They’re not real, so “historical accuracy” is irrelevant. And besides, don’t minorities deserve their own power fantasies?

It’s especially worth noting with Superman because, let’s face it, he’s an immigrant. His creators, Jerry Seigel and Joe Schuster, were Jews living in The US and Canada amidst difficult hardships. To them, Superman was the embodiment of The American Dream, the idealized god the average person should aspire to. (You thought the reference to Nietzsche was accidental?) Superman can be whatever he needs to be to fit the zeitgeist, even if that means changing his ethnicity.

I know what this is really about, though. It’s not about what Superman represents, but rather nerds asserting their racist dominance. And it’s disgusting. It’s disgusting because it marginalizes those that don’t fit into their ideal world, and it’s disgusting because it’s based in a reality that never existed.

Yeah, the version of reality that nerds believe, one of the white, nerdy male, never really existed. Nerd-dom never had one face, Superman even states this in one of his most-famous panels:

“…And remember, boys and girls, your school-like our country-is made up of Americans of many different races, religions, and national origins. So…if YOU hear anybody talk against a schoolmate or anyone else because of his religion, race or national origin-don’t wait: tell him THAT KIND OF TALK IS UN-AMERICAN.”

This isn’t an anomaly for superheroes: Captain America, the closest Marvel has ever gotten to a Superman, had his debut punching Hitler and Nazis, and he fought for racial reform in the 60’s and 70’s. Superheroes have always been about progress, and that’s how it’s supposed to be!

I also think shaming Superman for being played by a black actor is insulting to Michael B. Jordan. Because Michael B. Jordan’s a great actor, as evidenced by Creed and Black Panther. Sure, his last role as a superhero may not have been great, but that’s more the fault of Fant4stic’s behind-the-scenes complications than Jordan himself. Besides, I’d think he’d make a great Superman, if an unconventional one. Because if Samuel L. Jackson made a black Nick Fury work…

Ultimately, I think the best defence for a black Superman goes back to an old Tumblr post on diversity that became famous a few years ago. It compared diversity to chocolate raisins at a party for two guests: a black girl and a white girl. The white girl had three times as many raisins, highlighting the gap in representation. If you took a few raisins from the black girl’s cup and gave them to the white girl, she’d, rightfully, be upset. But if you took a few raisins from the white girl’s cup and gave them to the black girl, then it’d be fair because the quantity in both cups would be more on-par. Diversity, while also being more nuanced, works similarly.

It’s possible that this decision will backfire. It’s possible that Jordan’s Superman, like Cavill’s Superman, will be yet another failure on DC’s part, and Jordan will leave. I don’t know, I’m not psychic. But we should be open to trying, right? Because I’ve seen more outlandish ideas work before!