# What \*black\* actor would you cast as...Superman? **URL:** \ **Category:** Cafe Society\ **Created:** [April 19, 2014, 11:02pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-black-actor-would-you-cast-as-superman/686514 "2014-04-19T23:02:16Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![Ranchoth](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/ranchoth/32/1066_2.png) [@Ranchoth](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Ranchoth)\ **Post date:** [April 19, 2014, 11:02pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-black-actor-would-you-cast-as-superman/686514/1 "2014-04-19T23:02:16Z")
Something I’ve been musing about for awhile…here’s the setup: you’re casting the lead role in a Superman movie, and you’ve just happened to decide to have him be played by a black actor. Who do _you_ pick, to represent the champion of Truth, Justice, and the American Way? The rules? 1. You can choose a contemporary actor, or one who’s currently too old/dead, but would have worked “in their prime.” (Maybe your movie is actually being made in the past, or they’re resurrecting your star with CGI.) 2. _Not_ Will Smith _or_ Denzel Washington. _Everyone_ always goes for Will or Denzel in “what if” castings, and I’m sick of it. So…my picks? I’m going to be weird and nominate [Joe Morton](https://www.google.com/search?q=joe+morton&safe=off&client=firefox-a&hs=aL0&rls=org.mozilla:en-US:official&channel=sb&source=lnms&tbm=isch&sa=X&ei=AfxSU8iYDJCnyAS6vYLYCg&ved=0CAgQ_AUoAQ&biw=1338&bih=686), back in the day, with [Carl Weathers](http://www.ablackcelebrity.com/wp-content/gallery/carl-weathers-pictures/Carl-Weathers-actor-image-002.jpg) as a backup. As for contemporary actors…well, everyone else is going to say Idris Elba, so I’m going to say [Peter Mensah](https://www.google.com/search?safe=off&client=firefox-a&hs=KHL&rls=org.mozilla%3Aen-US%3Aofficial&channel=sb&biw=1338&bih=686&tbm=isch&sa=1&q=peter+mensah&oq=peter+mensah&gs_l=img.3..0l10.13675.15354.0.15637.12.10.0.2.2.0.121.898.9j1.10.0....0...1c.1.41.img..0.12.899.Lpy23A0FE3g), just to be contrary. So…anyone else have any favorites for the Last Son of Krypton? ---
**Author:** ![randompattern](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/7993a0/32.png) [@randompattern](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/randompattern)\ **Post date:** [April 19, 2014, 11:15pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-black-actor-would-you-cast-as-superman/686514/2 "2014-04-19T23:15:15Z")
Will Smith wouldn’t work anyway, he already did Hancock. Dwayne Johnson, or maybe a young Wesley Snipes? ---
**Author:** ![Dale\_Sams](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/779978/32.png) [@Dale\_Sams](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Dale_Sams)\ **Post date:** [April 19, 2014, 11:17pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-black-actor-would-you-cast-as-superman/686514/3 "2014-04-19T23:17:16Z")
Idris Elba ---
**Author:** ![An\_Gadai](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/d6d6ee/32.png) [@An\_Gadai](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/An_Gadai)\ **Post date:** [April 19, 2014, 11:17pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-black-actor-would-you-cast-as-superman/686514/4 "2014-04-19T23:17:27Z")
Terry Crews: Man Of Steel. ---
**Author:** ![The\_Other\_Waldo\_Pepper](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/the_other_waldo_pepper/32/12370_2.png) [@The\_Other\_Waldo\_Pepper](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/The_Other_Waldo_Pepper)\ **Post date:** [April 19, 2014, 11:24pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-black-actor-would-you-cast-as-superman/686514/5 "2014-04-19T23:24:54Z")
“Honey, where is my super-suit?” ---
**Author:** ![Little\_Nemo](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/little_nemo/32/3120_2.png) [@Little\_Nemo](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Little_Nemo)\ **Post date:** [April 19, 2014, 11:40pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-black-actor-would-you-cast-as-superman/686514/6 "2014-04-19T23:40:15Z")
Isaiah Mustafa ---
**Author:** ![johnpost](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/j/f17d59/32.png) [@johnpost](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/johnpost)\ **Post date:** [April 19, 2014, 11:47pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-black-actor-would-you-cast-as-superman/686514/7 "2014-04-19T23:47:59Z")
Richard Roundtree ---
**Author:** ![Girl\_From\_Mars](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/g/3da27b/32.png) [@Girl\_From\_Mars](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Girl_From_Mars)\ **Post date:** [April 19, 2014, 11:51pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-black-actor-would-you-cast-as-superman/686514/8 "2014-04-19T23:51:24Z")
Idris Elba- after watching him in Luther I think he has the vulnerability to play Clark Kent, plus be able to fill out that superman suit nicely. ---
**Author:** ![Ibn\_Warraq](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/i/e19b73/32.png) [@Ibn\_Warraq](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Ibn_Warraq)\ **Post date:** [April 19, 2014, 11:51pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-black-actor-would-you-cast-as-superman/686514/9 "2014-04-19T23:51:48Z")
Chiwetel Ejiofor. ---
**Author:** ![Sandra\_Battye](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/sandra_battye/32/552_2.png) [@Sandra\_Battye](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Sandra_Battye)\ **Post date:** [April 20, 2014, 12:06am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-black-actor-would-you-cast-as-superman/686514/10 "2014-04-20T00:06:15Z")
[Kevin Daniels](http://www.imdb.com/name/nm0199823/?ref_=tt_cl_i3) ---
**Author:** ![Maserschmidt](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/maserschmidt/32/18829_2.png) [@Maserschmidt](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Maserschmidt)\ **Post date:** [April 20, 2014, 12:11am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-black-actor-would-you-cast-as-superman/686514/11 "2014-04-20T00:11:22Z")
Kirk Lazarus. ---
**Author:** ![Kamino\_Neko](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/kamino_neko/32/34_2.png) [@Kamino\_Neko](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Kamino_Neko)\ **Post date:** [April 20, 2014, 12:22am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-black-actor-would-you-cast-as-superman/686514/12 "2014-04-20T00:22:22Z")
> [@Ibn\_Warraq](#): > > Chiwetel Ejiofor. I think this is the best suggestion so far. Some of the offerings have been too beefy, IMO - I’d rather go with one built like the current canon Supermen (both main Earth and the one based on Obama) - the Rock and Crews, especially. Others just don’t have the right look, IMO. Elba could work, too, but I think Ejiofor looks more Supermanny, IMO. ---
**Author:** ![Lumpy](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/lumpy/32/446_2.png) [@Lumpy](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Lumpy)\ **Post date:** [April 20, 2014, 12:22am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-black-actor-would-you-cast-as-superman/686514/13 "2014-04-20T00:22:50Z")
Terry Crews is closer than most but still not quite it. Superman has to have very strong, very chiseled features- he has to look _noble_. This statue is the closest image I’ve found to what I envision: [![](https://m5.paperblog.com/i/30/307886/the-monument-to-african-renaissance-magnifice-T-K8VBRj.jpeg) ](https://m5.paperblog.com/i/30/307886/the-monument-to-african-renaissance-magnifice-T-K8VBRj.jpeg) ---
**Author:** ![zoid](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/zoid/32/336_2.png) [@zoid](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/zoid)\ **Post date:** [April 20, 2014, 12:24am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-black-actor-would-you-cast-as-superman/686514/14 "2014-04-20T00:24:01Z")
Steve Harris or Omar Epps ---
**Author:** ![The\_Other\_Waldo\_Pepper](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/the_other_waldo_pepper/32/12370_2.png) [@The\_Other\_Waldo\_Pepper](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/The_Other_Waldo_Pepper)\ **Post date:** [April 20, 2014, 12:31am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-black-actor-would-you-cast-as-superman/686514/15 "2014-04-20T00:31:50Z")
Incidentally, what did everyone think of Anthony Mackie as The Falcon? ---
**Author:** ![Mahaloth](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/mahaloth/32/1079_2.png) [@Mahaloth](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Mahaloth)\ **Post date:** [April 20, 2014, 12:39am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-black-actor-would-you-cast-as-superman/686514/16 "2014-04-20T00:39:42Z")
J. August Richards ---
**Author:** ![WordMan](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/w/e8c25b/32.png) [@WordMan](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/WordMan)\ **Post date:** [April 20, 2014, 12:42am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-black-actor-would-you-cast-as-superman/686514/17 "2014-04-20T00:42:47Z")
> [@Lumpy](#): > > Terry Crews is closer than most but still not quite it. Superman has to have very strong, very chiseled features- he has to look _noble_. This statue is the closest image I’ve found to what I envision: > > [http://m5.paperblog.com/i/30/307886/the-monument-to-african-renaissance-magnifice-T-K8VBRj.jpeg](http://m5.paperblog.com/i/30/307886/the-monument-to-african-renaissance-magnifice-T-K8VBRj.jpeg) Shemar Moore. Tyson Beckford. ---
**Author:** ![j666](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/j/9de0a6/32.png) [@j666](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/j666)\ **Post date:** [April 20, 2014, 1:06am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-black-actor-would-you-cast-as-superman/686514/18 "2014-04-20T01:06:12Z")
> [@Ranchoth](#): > > 1. _Not_ Will Smith _or_ Denzel Washington. _Everyone_ always goes for Will or Denzel in “what if” castings, and I’m sick of it. My first thought was, “It will never happen, because Will Smith and Denzel Washington are both wrong for the role.” ---
**Author:** ![Just\_Asking\_Questions](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/j/ba9def/32.png) [@Just\_Asking\_Questions](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Just_Asking_Questions)\ **Post date:** [April 20, 2014, 1:14am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-black-actor-would-you-cast-as-superman/686514/19 "2014-04-20T01:14:11Z")
Tyler Perry. just kidding. As I said in the other thread, I think Michael Ealy could do it. Watching him in Almost Human, I think he could do the ‘whimsey’ of Clark Kent, and still carry the gravitas of Superman. ---
**Author:** ![Suburban\_Plankton](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/suburban_plankton/32/219_2.png) [@Suburban\_Plankton](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Suburban_Plankton)\ **Post date:** [April 20, 2014, 1:34am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-black-actor-would-you-cast-as-superman/686514/20 "2014-04-20T01:34:46Z")
> [@Dale\_Sams](#): > > Idris Elba This was my first thought as well. [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-black-actor-would-you-cast-as-superman/686514.md?page=2)