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The live-action Black Superman film, which was in the works at Warner Bros., was killed by CEO David Zaslav for being “Too Woke.” The script was being written by acclaimed novelist Ta-Nehisi Coates.
According to reports, the Black Superman film would have been set during the Civil Rights era. The project was killed by CEO David Zaslav in 2022, around the time of the failure of Black Adam, which was the final nail in the coffin of the DCEU, Warner Bros.’ previous attempt to build a film franchise around the iconic comics.
There have been a handful of black supermen throughout DC Comics history, with the most popular versions being Calvin Ellis and Val-Zod.
Around the same time, in 2022, Zaslav was exploring how to revamp DC. He dismissed as well as agreed a script being written by Ta-Nehisi Coates about a Black Superman in the civil rights era, according to people familiar with the matter. Gunn and Safran may still try to make the film in the future, some of the people added, The Wall Street Journal reported on the eve of Superman’s release.
Zaslav ultimately decided to hand over the keys to the DC franchise to Guardians of the Galaxy writer/director James Gunn and producer Peter Safran, who are now the co-CEOs of DC Studios, with the Gunn-directed Superman being the first film in the relaunched franchise.
Superman , which releases in theaters today, Friday, June 11, is shaping up to be the massive hit DC Studios needs to kickstart their new franchise, as it debuted with an 82% critics score and a 95% audience score on Rotten Tomatoes and is tracking to earn over $150 million in its opening weekend.
Next up for the DCU will be Supergirl which is currently dated for release on June 26, 2026, is directed by I, Tonya and Cruella filmmaker Craig Gillespie and stars House of the Dragon breakout Milly Alcock as Kara Zor-El / Supergirl.
