Among the many, many bombs fell in Tuesday’s revealing, disturbing one Hollywood Reporter unveiling on more of what Ray Fisher treated, both during and after Justice League, allegations were that Bridgerton star Regé-Jean Page was not cast as Superman’s grandfather Seg-El in the 2018 Syfy series Krypton because he mes Black. Now Page has spoken out on the matter.
The THR piece cites “multiple sources” telling the trade Geoff Johns—DC Comics writer and became DC Entertainment Chief Creative Officer, overseeing DC’s movies and DC’s live-action television products at the time – rejected the idea of Page’s casting because he believed Superman fans “expected” the grandfather of Kal-El would look like DCEU’s Superman, played by white actor Henry Cavill.
THR writes, “Multiple sources tell THR that the show’s creators were passionate about doing nontraditional casting and that Regé-Jean Page, who would later become a breakthrough star of Bridgerton, auditioned for the role of Superman’s grandfather. But Johns, who oversaw the project, said Superman couldn’t have a black grandfather. The creators also wanted to make one superhero character, Adam Strange, gay or bisexual. But sources say Johns vetoed the idea. “
While Johns’ has so far not commented on Fisher’s allegations, his representative THR has responded via email for his recent report. There stands that: “Geoff celebrates and supports LGTBQ characters, including Batwoman, which was reintroduced as LGBTQ in 2006 in a comic book series co-written by Johns, ‘ says Johns’ representative in an email. Johns also pitched Warners about developing a television show around the first LGBTQ main DC superhero television series, he adds. As for the role of Superman’s grandfather, the rep says Johns believed fans expected the character to look like a young Henry Cavill. “
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Another DC TV series – CW’s Superman and Lois– has recently been the source of other allegations of racism based on comments from Johns. Recently, writer Nadria Tucker has let go tweeted“I haven’t spoken to Geoff since the day on Krypton when he tried to tell me what is and isn’t A Black Thing.” More on that from our friends on the Root here
however, the Krypton The allegation was clearly not news to Page, who expressed his disappointment Twitter“Hearing these conversations hurts no less now than it was then.” The clarifications almost hurt more. I’m still just doing my thing. Still, we do the job. We are still flying. “
Ray Fisher, who has remained steadfast in his request for accountability from Warner Bros’ side, also had something to add. “I appreciate that Geoff Johns has deployed a crisis team to explain away his discriminatory behavior, but his apologies are WEAK,” he says. tweeted“If Geoff believed fans expected Superman’s grandfather to look like ‘a young Henry Cavill’ – why was he okay with the Zods not looking like Michael Shannon?”
Fisher is talking about black actors Colin Salmon, who played the iconic Superman villain General Zod Krypton, as well as Georgina Campbell and Ann Ogbomo, who played other members of the Zod family. And it’s a fair point, to be honest.
In all fairness, Hollywood Reporter’s piece is just one of them many wake-up calls forcing industry to take note and take notes. There will certainly be more reports like this, and of course more gruesome systemic racism will be exposed (across all industries). Hopefully this will be another step in Hollywood’s inevitable reckoning of its actions and its troubles.
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