In Chapter 1, which comprises “Notes on the First Year” and “This Is How We Lost to the White Man,” Coates reflects on how poorly his career and personal life were going until Barack Obama ran for and won the presidency. White supremacists misrepresent these eras as ones rife with corruption and incompetence because good Black government undercuts White supremacist notions of inherent Black inferiority. In the Introduction, “Regarding Good Negro Government,” Coates argues that the first era of good Black government was during the Reconstruction period rather than during the Obama presidency. This choice might indicate that his version of Kal-El will very directly engage with his Black identity.The book comprises an Introduction, eight essays with introductory notes, and an Epilogue that Coates wrote after the election of Donald Trump in 2016. Rather than going to traditional trade outlets, Coates chose to break the news via Shadow and Act, a website dedicated to covering the African diaspora in the arts. But that element alone is a fresher spin than that character has had onscreen in a long time.

The Hollywood Reporter has no exact details on the project other than it allegedly centers on a Black Superman. That's how you can have Ben Affleck’s Batman at the same time as Robert Pattinson's Batman at the same time as Michael Keaton's Batman at the same time as Jared Leto's Joker at the same time as Joaquin Phoenix's Joker, without worrying about pesky things like continuity.īut if superhero fatigue set in just by reading that sentence, rest assured that Coates and Abrams, at least, seem to have something fresh up their sleeves. have recently gone all in on the multiverse concept, not only in with their popular CW TV shows, but in the world of film as well. Those who may be confused by the concept of the multiverse should revisit the Oscar-winning animated film Into the Spider-Verse, in which several different versions of Marvel's famed web-slinger co-existed all at once. Is earth ready for this many Kryptonians? revisits a previous Superman-the version played by Henry Cavill in Zack Snyder's Justice League-and the same week the CW debuted a new series called Superman & Lois, starring Tyler Hoechlin as the Man of Steel, DC is doubling down on its commitment to the idea of a multiverse by announcing a new project centering on Superman-written by essayist and Black Panther comics writer Ta-Nehisi Coates, and produced by J.J.

We were eight years in power