With all the rumors that Ta-Nehisi Coates is planning to make a new Superman movie with a Black Superman, DC Comics has brought one of their Black Supermen back into comics.
Coates, who wrote Black Panther for the past few years for Marvel Comics and is in the midst of a Captain America run right now, has signed on to create a new Superman movie with J.J. Abrams producing.
The first thought was that he would finally bring a Black Superman to the big screen, with Michael B. Jordan leading the fan dream casting.
This made a lot of fans mad, fans who know nothing about DC Comics. It isn’t unprecedented and it has been done before, and it has nothing to do with making Clark Kent a Black man.
Who is Calvin Ellis, the Black Superman?
Calvin Ellis is the Black Superman of Earth-23.
Anyone who has watched the Arrowverse on The CW should finally be versed in the DC Multiverse, and those who aren’t should get a crash course in the upcoming The Flash movie.
For everyone else, there are multiple versions of Earth in the universe. These are all similar but different in many ways. On one Earth, the Justice League are all villains. On another, the Golden Age heroes from DC Comics 1930s-1950s exist.
On Earth-23, Superman is a Black man, raised in a hard-working family and grew up to become the President of the United States. He then did as much work to help the country from a position of power as he did as the world’s mightiest hero.
This is one possibility for Ta-Nehisi Coates’ Superman movie, although there is another Black Superman in Val-Zod, another Black Kryptonian, introduced in 2014 by Tom Taylor and Nicola Scott.
Calvin Ellis returned this month to DC Comics
Calvin Ellis was back as Superman this month in Infinite Frontier: Secret Files #1 by Joshua Williamson and Brandon Thomas.
In the Infinite Frontier series, Calvin Ellis is the President of the United States and runs that Justice Incarnate – the multiverse’s version of the Justice League.
While this Earth’s Superman is a hero that has the whole world on his shoulders, it doesn’t compare to the stress and responsibility that Calvin Ellis has.
This specific issue shows how Calvin Ellis can escape for moments and rejuvenate so he can continue to do his part to make his Earth a better place.
If anything, reading Calvin Ellis stories in DC Comics shows what a great idea it could be to bring this particular Black Superman to the big screen.