A Black Superman is coming. DC fans everywhere are angry that Henry Cavill will no longer be playing Superman. But this announcement from James Gunn should not have been surprising. He and co-head of DC Studios Peter Safran have essentially been scrapping the entire DCU in order to build a new one. Practically all the major players in the Justice League have either been scrapped, canceled, or reassigned in DC, and Cavill’s return as Superman in the post-credits scene of Black Adam was approved by studio execs before Gunn was put in charge. But Gunn’s changes leave us wondering about the future of Superman. The truth is, it may be Black.

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Legendary American author Ta-Nehisi Coates had signed a deal with DC long before the movie franchise was thrown into such chaos, and his contract still stands under Gunn’s plans for the new DCU. Coates’ idea for the film was to cast an African-American actor as Superman and to work with the character as he was in the golden-age comics.

Working with J.J. Abrams’ production company Bad Robot, the movie would not interfere with the Superman film James Gunn is writing but would exist in parallel to the DCU like Matt Reeves’ The Batman. A Black Superman may not be the hero we deserve, but he’s the one we need right now.

Ta-Nehisi Coates and Superman

     DC Studios

Ta-Nehisi Coates and Superman go together like Clark Kent and the Daily Planet. The prolific author made a name for himself as a columnist at The Atlantic and is best known for his works like his novel Between the World and Me and his fearless essays like I’m not Black, I’m Kanye. Coates also wrote beloved runs of Black Panther and Captain America for Marvel Comics and was asked to work on the first Black Panther movie for the MCU. He has proved an astounding ability to connect with his readers while delivering massive impactful truths that some people may not want to hear. His profound voice as a writer in the Black community makes him the perfect person to create a reboot for Superman, and Superman has a lot to offer the Black community.

Though, the idea of a Black Superman seems like it would meet a similar uproar as the Black 007 did in No Time to Die. People, especially white people, came out of the theaters feeling threatened, knowing that this was Daniel Craig’s last Bond movie, and worrying that Lashana Lynch was the actor they would get to replace him. This seems to happen a lot with legacy characters. They’ve become familiar, perhaps for reasons other than their original intent. Subjects like race or sexuality begin to eclipse what Superman or James Bond truly stand for.

That’s not to say that Superman’s ethnicity is not important. On the contrary, we’ve forgotten just how important it is. When people normally think of Superman, they see the tall, square-jawed white man that is represented in all of these comics, and that image has become more important than its content. When Jerry Siegel and Joe Shuster created Superman, they did so as a reflection of their stories as Jewish immigrants to the United States. We are so wrapped up in his super-strength and laser vision, that we forget Kal-El came to us from another world and must hide himself as Clark Kent. It’s the story of how a Japanese man in America might learn to stop bowing or how a German woman in Morocco might have to cover herself.

What a Black Superman Can Offer Us

     DC Comics

We need a reminder of Superman’s otherness because he’s meant to do more than just look cool and beat up bad guys. Without this inspiration, Superman just becomes a male Barbie doll; a giant muscular guy who is crafted to tell us how you are meant to look and act in society. Without Clark Kent’s attempt to fit in with humanity, Superman has no struggle. He becomes another superhero who tries to beat up a bigger guy than himself and eventually succeeds.

If Superman is Black, he becomes more than another white man who might be mistaken for a generational American. He starts to represent a conflict that has existed at the very heart of America since its birth: a country of freedom built with slaves, a nation of equality that demanded separation, and a dream that has been used to placate us while people rage over the skin color of a comic book character.

A Black Superman isn’t from Krypton, but from the alien planets that exist within our borders. Strength and courage are still necessary to be Black, gay, or female, in this world where we’re told racism doesn’t exist. It’s these people who need a hero. It’s these people who need a story that can recognize their struggle. And perhaps it’s the people that find a Black Superman so appalling who should be reminded what superheroes are really for.

Superman isn’t the defender of the strong, savior of the comfort zone, and keeper of the status quo. He is a superhero that is uniquely apt to remind us all of who needed defending in the first place: the immigrants, the oppressed, and those kept on the outside of society despite living in the same town. A Black Superman might be jarring, but he may be able to save those in the greatest need.