The Good Citizens of Metropolis: The Casting Thread

[Deck Rickard]

SUPERMAN
written & directed by J.J. Abrams

Clark Kent / Superman: David Corenswet

Lois Lane: Naomi Scott
Lana Lang: Margaret Qualley

Lex Luthor: Tom Cruise
John Corben / Metallo: Glen Powell

Agent Jones / Manhunter: David Oyelowo
Perry White: Nick Offerman
Jimmy Olsen: Finn Wolfhard

Martha Kent: Sandra Oh
Jonathan Kent: Hugh Jackman
John Henry Irons: Jay Ellis

supporting cast

Dr. Emil Hamilton: Courtney B. Vance
Ron Troupe: Rob Morgan
Cat Grant: Kelly Marie Tran
Mercy Graves: Jasmine Cephas Jones
Pete Ross: Lewis Pullman
Bruno Mannheim: Pasha D. Lychnikoff
Bibbo Bibbowski: Greg Grunberg

I am in love with this cast. Inject it into my veins!

 

[fan4stic]

David Corenswet as Superman

Naomi Scott as Lois

Michael B. Jordan as Lex

Ethan Hawke as Jonathan

Elizabeth Mitchell as Martha

Nick Offerman as Perry

Levi Miller as Jimmy

Ioan Gruffud as Jor-El

Jennifer Connelly as Lara

Lindsey Morgan as Mercy

Sophia Lillis as Kara

Mads Mikkelsen as Zod

Ralph Fiennes as Brainiac

Adam Driver as Parasite

Oliver-Jackson Cohen as Metallo

 

[BobJM]

SUPERMAN
written & directed by J.J. Abrams

Clark Kent / Superman: David Corenswet

Lois Lane: Naomi Scott
Lana Lang: Margaret Qualley

Lex Luthor: Tom Cruise
John Corben / Metallo: Glen Powell

Agent Jones / Manhunter: David Oyelowo
Perry White: Nick Offerman
Jimmy Olsen: Finn Wolfhard

Martha Kent: Sandra Oh
Jonathan Kent: Hugh Jackman
John Henry Irons: Jay Ellis

supporting cast

Dr. Emil Hamilton: Courtney B. Vance
Ron Troupe: Rob Morgan
Cat Grant: Kelly Marie Tran
Mercy Graves: Jasmine Cephas Jones
Pete Ross: Lewis Pullman
Bruno Mannheim: Pasha D. Lychnikoff
Bibbo Bibbowski: Greg Grunberg

Using my above J.J. Abrams Superman reboot casting as the jumping-off point, I've cast the characters for sequels & spin-offs:

For example, characters like Supergirl and Steel (and his niece, Natasha) could be featured in a Superman sequel, and then later spun off into their own solo adventures—in theaters and/or HBOMax.

Similarly, the Metropolis Police Special Crimes Unit characters like Detectives Turpin and Sawyer can guest star in Gotham Central and/or appear in other smaller projects set in-universe.

And although I don't want to see General Zod and Kryptonian politics again on film so soon after Man of Steel, I think Jor-El and Lara will be needed for at least flashback sequences and/or Fortress of Solitude scenes with Superman. Otherwise, these two, plus Zod and even perhaps a pre-villainous A.I. Brainiac are perfect for a series on HBOMax (exploring Jor-El & Zod’s deteriorating relationship ahead of the planet’s final days and the corruption of Brainiac).

Click on the quoted bit beneath the list for pics of the full cast.

SUPERMAN SEQUELS & HBOMAX SPIN-OFFS

Kara / Supergirl: Mckenna Grace

John Henry Irons / Steel: Jay Ellis
Natasha Irons: Marsai Martin

metropolis special crimes.
Det. Dan Turpin: Bill Pullman
Det. Maggie Sawyer: Natalie Morales
Lt. Lupé Leocadio-Escudero: Gina Torres

villains.
Darkseid: Ron Perlman
Brainiac: Tilda Swinton
Toy Man: Jonah Hill
Parasite: Jake Johnson
Lobo: Karl Urban

krypton.
Jor-El: Richard Armitage
Lara: Keri Russell
General Zod: Toby Huss

cadmus / the elite.
Amanda Waller: Alfre Woodard
General Sam Lane: Bryan Cranston
Manchester Black: Regé-Jean Page
Silver Banshee: Natalie Dormer
Hat: Justin H. Min
Coldcast: Eli Goree

featuring.
Michael Stuhlbarg as Mister Mxyzptlk

Kara / Supergirl: Mckenna Grace

John Henry Irons / Steel: Jay Ellis

Natasha Irons: Marsai Martin

metropolis special crimes.
Det. Dan Turpin: Bill Pullman

Det. Maggie Sawyer: Natalie Morales

Lt. Lupé Leocadio-Escudero: Gina Torres

villains.
Darkseid: Ron Perlman

Brainiac: Tilda Swinton

Toy Man: Jonah Hill

Parasite: Jake Johnson

Lobo: Karl Urban

krypton.
Jor-El: Richard Armitage

Lara: Keri Russell

General Zod: Toby Huss

cadmus / the elite.
Amanda Waller: Alfre Woodard

General Sam Lane: Bryan Cranston

Manchester Black: Regé-Jean Page

Silver Banshee: Natalie Dormer

Hat: Justin H. Min

Coldcast: Eli Goree

featuring.
Michael Stuhlbarg as Mister Mxyzptlk

 

[batman44]

If WB is serious about wanting Superman to be black my top two choices for now are
Alfred Enoch and Regé-Jean Page

 

[Jekecy]

If WB is serious about wanting Superman to be black my top two choices for now is
Alfred Enoch and Regé-Jean Page
View attachment 43470

Hmm, I really like Page's look. His show on Netflix has been receiving so much buzz. It's not the type of show I usually watch, but I might be more eager to check that out now.

 

[batman44]

Da-Scribe mentioned Eli Goree and I think he was pretty solid as Muhammad Ali in One Night in Miami.

 

[BobJM]

Really liked his performance as Ali in One Night in Miami.

That being said, there are only two choices that are sticking in my mind right now.

Michael B. Jordan, 34

Stephan James, 27

 

[Astro13Zombie]

David Corenswet would be such a boring choice for Superman

I really want them to do something interesting with the casting choices.

 

[Frodo]

Superman/ Clark Kent : Regé-Jean Page

Lois Lane : Camila Mendes

Lex Luthor : John David Washington

 

[flickchick85]

If WB is serious about wanting Superman to be black my top two choices for now are
Alfred Enoch and Regé-Jean Page

View attachment 43469 View attachment 43470

I would’ve been skeptical of Regé after only Bridgerton, but his SNL hosting gig actually sold me. He’s got the chops (and charm), imo.

 

[Sawyer]

Honestly, now that there’s a multiverse at their disposal, my hope would be that they either use Calvin Ellis or Val Zod rather than taking the easy route and race-lifting Clark.

 

[Alien Anal]

Here is my Pinterest board of my Superman concept. 410 Superman ideas | superman, superman art, superman family

The basic premise is an old age Clark who lives by him self in the Rockies in a small modest cabin needs to return to Smallville for a funeral. Along the way the he meets different people of ages and backgrounds and tells them his story of his younger days as Superman. Clark has out lived everyone he has loved except someone that is revealed at the end.

It's inspired by films like Forest Gump and Big Fish. I do have about half or more of a script of sorts written and over 20+ illustrations for scenes drawn out.

 

[Vaibow]

I would’ve been skeptical of Regé after only Bridgerton, but his SNL hosting gig actually sold me. He’s got the chops (and charm), imo.

He's my pick for Bond.

Honestly, now that there’s a multiverse at their disposal, my hope would be that they either use Calvin Ellis or Val Zod rather than taking the easy route and race-lifting Clark.

Yes, it's totally nonsense to make Clark Kent black.

It's purely political - the states, the media wants to tell you it's so racially divided. The media and government want to tell you black folk and minorities have a snow fakes chance in hell in succeeding and to make Superman, America's greatest pop icon Black... it's just pure lazy and on the nose.

What an insult to every other minority that the get 'overlooked' every time - it's always black v white in the media.

They missed a perfect opportunity when Snyder rushed to the Death of superman - JL should have been put on hold and a world without superman film could have been inspiring - John Henry Irons, Steel. Superboy could have even been a gender neutral clone called 'superZe' whatever man, have some fun and represent - but instead they want to reboot superman from an angle where he is black. No thanks, that's just terrible.

Reboot and let anyone audition - whoever knocks out the acting, react to that. There could be an asian actor that nails the role, but nope... they want black.

Black folk deserve better and so does Superman.

Steel, multiverse Calvin Ellis, heck even a Clone superboy could have potential.

It's such a sad day when they try and hijack a character and audience to be political when actually it's down to $$$ for them.

If WB/DC truly cared, give us original, ground breaking content.

 

[Frodo]

I'm Black, and I'm perfectly fine with a Black Clark Kent or Calvin Ellis.

Clearly there are people who can't accept it or deal with that possibility, but I'm not one of them. This is from someone who will always consider Chris Reeve their Superman.

But, people are gonna have their opinions .

As for Jene Page, I like him for a Clark or Calvin Superman if they go that route.

 

[Prison Mike]

The issue I have with a black Clark Kent is just that it’s a very lazy cop out. It doesn’t deal with the root of the problem which is that Hollywood is still very gun shy about developing and investing in original characters that are non white. They just want to check off their diversity quota boxes without taking any actual risk. It rings very hollow to me.

 

[Frodo]

The issue I have with a black Clark Kent is just that it’s a very lazy cop out. It doesn’t deal with the root of the problem which is that Hollywood is still very gun shy about developing and investing in original characters that are non white. They just want to check off their diversity quota boxes without taking any actual risk. It rings very hollow to me.

There's no reason why Hollywood can't have minorities play original minority characters and previously white adapted characters. It's not an either or thing.

The whole " there are minorities heroes/characters they could cast" is true, but that doesn't preclude minority actors playing traditionally white characters .

That argument only really holds water if the position is ,"minority actors should only play minority characters ", which in itself isn't a strong enough argument to not cast a minority actor in a role traditionally played by a white actor.

I know there are alot of fanboys who feel that way, but it's not a strong enough reason to limit Black actors to only Black characters.

Yes, you're correct , Hollywood is gun shy about investing in characters which are non white. Trust me, that's obvious to the Black community and it's far from being news.

At the same time that doesn't mean, therefore , that doesn't mean its wrong for a minority actor to play a typically White character.

 

[Eddie Dean]

Lex?

 

[Deck Rickard]

There's no reason why Hollywood can't have minorities play original minority characters and previously white adapted characters. It's not an either or thing.

The whole " there are minorities heroes/characters they could cast" is true, but that doesn't preclude minority actors playing traditionally white characters .

That argument only really holds water if the position is ,"minority actors should only play minority characters ", which in itself isn't a strong enough argument to not cast a minority actor in a role traditionally played by a white actor.

I know there are alot of fanboys who feel that way, but it's not a strong enough reason to limit Black actors to only Black characters.

Yes, you're correct , Hollywood is gun shy about investing in characters which are non white. Trust me, that's obvious to the Black community and it's far from being news.

At the same time that doesn't mean, therefore , that doesn't mean its wrong for a minority actor to play a typically White character.

This, all day. Excellent post.

As for casting, Rege Jean-Page would be perfect. Send him to Gym Jones for a month and he’d be the spitting image of Superman.

 

[Invader Joker]

I haven't seen him act on anything but Alfred Enoch has a very Clark Kent look to him.

 

[Mandon Knight]

Lex?

Great choice. Brilliant actor.

 

[ChrisLyne]

Given all the earlier reports I suspect the role is Jordan’s if he wants it but I can totally see Regé-Jean Page in the role as well.

As for making Clark black vs using Calvin Ellis or Val-Zod, whichever they do I’ll be there for the midnight opening in full support but my preference would be to go with Calvin. His story is new, it’s something we’ve not seen much of even in the comics so it gives them a lot of room to be creative without fans preconceptions, plus he ends up leading a multiversal Justice League (Justice Incarnate) so if WB are planning on going all in with the multiverse he seems like the perfect choice.

 

[Sawyer]

It would be very ironic after his role on Watchmen, but I’m going to throw Jovan Adepo’s name into the mix.

Been loving him since The Leftovers.

 

[fan4stic]

David Corenswet would be such a boring choice for Superman

I really want them to do something interesting with the casting choices.

Why?

 

[fan4stic]

I don't really care enough about this to say a lot. I'll just give my standard statement. I think racechanging for what I think is the sake of it, is dumb and needless. If the character is white, they're white. If black, they're black, etc.

 

[Boy Scout]

Lex?

I’d give him a screen test. Dunno if he’s right for Lex, but he’s a damn good actor.