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Michael B. Jordan as the Man Of Steel?

Maybe that'd be interesting, but then you're making a character who isn't Superman anymore and a story that isn't Superman.

I don't have a problem with expanding the mythos, especially since it was already done in the comics. Give me a good movie, and you could get a native of Janus VI to play the part for all I care.
 
Why? There are black farmers.

Because if you're gonna make a Superman movie with a black Superman, you should change his backstory to be culturally relevant and he would have inevitably faced racism. A black guy in a small town, living on a farm with a traditional upbringing is silly and a missed opportunity. Standing up for truth, justice and the American way having been a victim of racism? Working with the institutionally racist police and military? You're just erasing all that by just making Superman black.

It's the same with James Bond to be honest. Or Batman. I don't really have faith they could logically do it anyway. I didn't think Black Panther was a good movie, but it did all these aspects well.
 
Because if you're gonna make a Superman movie with a black Superman, you should change his backstory to be culturally relevant and he would have inevitably faced racism. A black guy in a small town, living on a farm with a traditional upbringing is silly and a missed opportunity. Standing up for truth, justice and the American way having been a victim of racism? Working with the institutionally racist police and military? You're just erasing all that by just making Superman black.

It's the same with James Bond to be honest. Or Batman. I don't really have faith they could logically do it anyway. I didn't think Black Panther was a good movie, but it did all these aspects well.
Why would a black man raised on a farm/small town with a "traditional upbringing" be immune to racism? Why can't he believe in truth, justice and the American way in spite of the racism be encounters? Superman is no stranger to fighting corruption in military, law enforcement and political organizations. He pretty much cut his baby teeth on it.
 
Why would a black man raised on a farm/small town with a "traditional upbringing" be immune to racism? Why can't he believe in truth, justice and the American way in spite of the racism be encounters? Superman is no stranger to fighting corruption in military, law enforcement and political organizations. He pretty much cut his baby teeth on it.

Because the relatable, black experience isn't being raised on a farm with white people. Turning a black guy into a symbol of authority seems a bad thing to me. I think its a bad idea.
 
Because the relatable, black experience isn't being raised on a farm with white people. Turning a black guy into a symbol of authority seems a bad thing to me. I think its a bad idea.
Who says he has to be raised by white people? Again, black people own farms and work them.

Because there have never been black Presidents, Mayors, District Attorneys, teachers, doctors, LEOs...?

Superman started his career on the edges of "respectability" and in defiance of "authority".
 
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I don't have any particular thought's on Kal-El's skin tone other than to think that his wavy hair is more important; I can easier picture a Latino or (Asian) Indian Kal-El with wavy hair than anyone with a buzz cut, as Jordan seems to usually have. Obviously, however, there's value in questioning and challenging entrenched inclinations such as these.

And now I'm thinking maybe Kal-El should appear Native American, and land on a reservation? How many viable family farms outside of reservations still exist, anyhow?

Jordan pitched a Superman project. None of the articles I've seen have any real info that he pitched himself as Superman. But most of them just assume it.
Indeed.
 
Because the relatable, black experience isn't being raised on a farm with white people. Turning a black guy into a symbol of authority seems a bad thing to me. I think its a bad idea.
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Jordan has said that if chosen to play the first black Superman, he won't play the Kal-El/Clark Kent Superman, but wants to play the black Superman of another alternate Earth, Kal-El/Calvin Ellis, the President Of The United States.

Words cannot express how much I would love a Calvin Ellis Superman movie -- The West Wing, and the president is Superman! Yeah, I want that. :)
 
I would be very curious to see what Jordan would do with the role. I'm not real familiar with him, but he was great in Black Panther, and I'm pretty sure he could pull off a good Superman.
 
How many viable family farms outside of reservations still exist, anyhow?

Indeed.

Wiki said In the United States for example, a 2014 USDA report shows that family farms operate 90 percent of the nation’s farmland, and account for 85 percent of the country’s agricultural production value.[3]
 
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Wiki said In the United States for example, a 2014 USDA report shows that family farms operate 90 percent of the nation’s farmland, and account for 85 percent of the country’s agricultural production value.[3]
Yeah, it's not that simple. According to Farm Aid - i.e., not some random Wikipedian citing two statistics from a single government report:

A farm itself is defined by USDA as any operation selling $1,000 or more of agricultural products in a year... [this] allows for nearly anyone who’s dabbling in growing food or raising livestock for sale, regardless of whether they consider farming their primary occupation, to be classified as a farmer. In fact, over 1.3 million farms counted by USDA are operations where the owner is not looking to make a living from farming. That means only about 900,000 US farms are operated by full-time farmers who derive their livelihood from the land.​

And:

While USDA statistics suggest most of these operations are family farms, it is likely that the family farmers caught in the industrial food system do not enjoy full ownership or control over their farm operations and managerial decisions—something many experts cite as critical elements in defining a family farm. Among the largest threats to their power are contract arrangements with large agribusinesses that dictate their decisions, farm management practices and debt requirements.

[...] So do most of our nation’s farm operations have a family at the helm? Sure. But as we note frequently, the industrial system of agriculture is mostly benefiting a small handful of food corporations, processors, and other middlemen. The system is neither resilient nor profitable for the majority of family farmers who are left with a smaller and smaller slice of the pie, as just the largest and most industrial operations are able to thrive.​

Ergo, while many families may still be primarily farming families, the independent, bucolic Norman Rockwell ideal of the family farm as seen in Smallville/MoS/etc. may not be truly representative of modern agriculture. And there are no doubt industry pressures for government reports to massage statistics into less-than-entirely honest generalizations. But I'm hardly an expert on this.

Destroyed with facts.
Funny kind of destruction, seeing as I'm still here. And this isn't TNZ; there's no need to be rude just because someone asks an honest question. ;)
 
Because the relatable, black experience isn't being raised on a farm with white people. Turning a black guy into a symbol of authority seems a bad thing to me. I think its a bad idea.

Right, because blacks can only be seen as victims. :rolleyes:

That being said, Michael Jordan would make a great Superman and a good role model for kids.
 
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