Michael B. Jordan Wants To Be A Very “Different” Superman

Those who were quick to grab their pitchforks and were ready to start a war over rumours that Michael B. Jordan would be cast as the new Superman can rest peacefully tonight. In a recent interview with Oprah, the 32-year-old Creed actor admitted that he would be very hesitant to play Clark Kent in the DCEU. He is interested in playing Calvin Ellis, Earth 23’s Superman, instead.

Last year a rumour started spreading online that Warner Bros. was considering replacing Henry Cavill with Michael B. Jordan as the DCEU’s Superman. Of course, it didn’t take long for fans to grab their keyboards and start petitions to stop it from happening.

Jordan, who admits that he is a “comic book guy”, agrees that he probably shouldn’t mess up people’s perceptions about who Clark Kent is. That said, he is totally on board for an alternate Earth version of the classic superhero.

“It’s tough. I hate being a businessman and understanding both sides of the situation. There is a huge upside to it, but being under that microscope, being picked apart and compared to so many different versions of Superman… I would rather do something original. I’ll be Calvin Ellis,” Jordan admitted. “I think the comic book purists can accept that more than me being Clark Kent. That’s a different thing.”

For those who don’t know, Calvin Ellis was created by Grant Morrison as a homage to Barack Obama and first appeared in Final Crisis #7 as an African-American version of Superman, who is also the President of the United States. They pretty much have the same powers and even the same backstory, he escaped Krypton’s destruction as a baby and was raised by the Ellis family on Earth.

When you consider what Sony achieved with Into The Spider-Verse, perhaps it’s time DC embraced the idea of an alternate black Superman. If that’s the case, Michael B. Jordan is our guy.