Amid the storm caused by Henry Cavill’s alleged exit from Warner Bros. and the DC Extended Universe last year, a curious rumor emerged that linked Michael B. Jordan, star of Black Panther and Josh Trank’s troubled Fantastic Four reboot, with the seemingly empty role of Superman.
First reported by Deadline, we were told back in September that Warner has earmarked Jordan to be the next Man of Steel, though it won’t happen for a while yet, as it’ll apparently be “several years” before the studio is ready to move forward with another standalone Superman movie. And though nothing has emerged on the topic since then, a curious new development has occurred this week which has once again ignited rumors of Jordan being our next Big Blue Boy Scout.
In case you haven’t heard, the actor’s signed a first look deal with Warner Brothers, with the studio announcing the following in a recent press release:
“This powerful marriage will focus on culturally rich storytelling, representative of the global community and providing a platform for the next generation of talent to thrive.”
Jordan, meanwhile, seems equally excited to be working with them, expressing himself as so:
“Warner Bros. is the perfect home for myself, my brilliant president of production Alana Mayo and Outlier Society,” said Jordan. “I have a tremendous amount of respect for their visionary leadership and commitment to producing a broad slate of films, which gives us more range and more opportunity as producers. Most importantly, they share my passion for telling unique, creatively-fulfilling stories and giving a voice to the next generation of talent.”
Though neither party have announced yet just what they’re planning, it’s not hard to see why many have taken this new partnership as a sign that Michael B. Jordan is about to become our next Superman – specifically, Val-Zod, who hails from Earth-Two, and is considered to be one of the last surviving Kryptionians, much like the Man of Steel before him.
While this is certainly exciting to consider, we want to stress again that this first look deal is far from confirmation that Jordan is being groomed to replace Cavill. It’s entirely possible that Warner Bros. has another franchise in mind for him, something completely separate from the DCEU.
That being said, couple this announcement with the report from Deadline back in the fall and we wouldn’t be at all surprised if Michael B. Jordan winds up being the next Superman.