It’s been years since Warner Bros. announced Ta-Nehisi Coates would pen a Black Superman film—a period piece set during the Civil Rights Movement. The buzz was real. J.J. Abrams was producing. Coates, a celebrated writer with deep cultural insight, was bringing fresh perspective to one of the most iconic characters in comic book history. But then… silence. The project disappeared. And now we finally know why.
According to a new report from The Wall Street Journal, the reason wasn’t creative differences, lack of budget, or scheduling issues. It was politics. More specifically: Warner Bros. Discovery CEO David Zaslav allegedly dismissed the project for being “too woke.”
Yes, you read that right.
Coates’ vision was never even given a fair shot. The script—centered on a Black Superman navigating the social and racial tensions of the 1960s—was labeled as too progressive by Zaslav, who took over the merged company in 2022. And this wasn’t just any random executive call. Zaslav has been in headlines before for cutting diversity-centered programming and pushing Warner Bros. toward what some are calling a “post-woke” era. His alignment with right-wing rhetoric has even stirred controversy at CNN and other Warner entities.
So while fans were waiting for casting news, dreaming up who might suit up as the first Black Superman on the big screen, that dream was being quietly shut down in corporate boardrooms.
And this wasn’t the only Black-led Superman project to get shelved. Michael B. Jordan had been developing a separate limited series for HBO Max based on Val-Zod, a Black Superman from Earth-2. That project was also quietly iced following the Warner Bros.–Discovery merger.
Coates, when first tapped to write the script in 2021, had expressed hope and excitement:
“To be invited into the DC Universe… is an honor. I look forward to meaningfully adding to the legacy of America’s most iconic mythic hero.”
Abrams echoed that sentiment, calling it a “new, powerful, and moving Superman story yet to be told.”
But apparently, telling that story was too much for Warner Bros. under Zaslav’s leadership.
Meanwhile, James Gunn’s Superman—starring David Corenswet, Rachel Brosnahan, and Nicholas Hoult—just dropped in theaters and is pulling solid box office numbers with a $122 million debut. But ironically, even that film is being called “too woke” by some far-right outlets, despite its overwhelmingly white cast and traditional approach.
So here’s the math: a Black Superman rooted in American history? Too woke. A white Superman with a modern lens? Still too woke. What do they want, exactly?
To be fair, all hope isn’t completely lost. Gunn has said Coates’ version could still happen as an “Elseworlds” project—DC’s label for standalone stories outside the main timeline (like Joker or The Batman). But don’t expect movement anytime soon.
Let’s be clear: Hollywood scraps projects all the time. But this one stings. Because it wasn’t about whether the story could connect with audiences (spoiler: it would’ve). It was about fear—of change, of nuance, of truth. A Black Superman set during one of the most pivotal times in U.S. history could’ve redefined the genre. Instead, it was reduced to a buzzword and swept away.
For now, the most powerful hero in the DC Universe remains white. But as always, we’ll keep asking why—and pushing for the stories that deserve the spotlight.