Fear of a Black Superman or Miles Morales isn’t Black Spider-Man

He’s Spider-Man.

With the recent news release that Ta-Nehisi Coates is partnering with JJ Abrams to write a “Black Superman” movie, the internet (which is to say, certain vocal corners of it) is all afluster with the unfortunately usual huffing and puffing, including “why do they have to change it?” “can’t we (read: white menchildren) have anything?” “this woke thing is out of control” “Why can’t there just be a new character? Like Miles Morales?”

You can be frustrated, but you shouldn’t be surprised.

Now granted, when I (also a white manchild) think of Superman, the tall, dark-haired Caucasian version is invariably what my mind conjures. But does it HAVE to be? Would a non-Caucasian be detrimental to either Supes’ legacy or message? What would happen if an iconic character looked totally different from what I, a fan, grew up with? What could be gained by recasting Kal-El as Black? What might be lost?

To be clear: there are hundreds if not thousands of stories of a white-looking Kal-El being visibly awesome, unimpeachably Good and performing acts of altruism because It’s The Right Thing to Do over personal gain or expectation of good press. And having a Superman who appears Black will not delete those stories.

But first let’s dispense with the Miles Morales comparison because it falls apart almost instantly upon examination. Miles is a well-drawn character of Black and Puerto Rican mixed heritage (created by Brian Michael Bendis, Sara Pichelli and Axel Alonso in 2011), who is enrolled in a Gifted private school located outside his working-class neighbourhood. He encounters great difficulty straddling all the different worlds he navigates, and that’s even before he gets super-powers. His mixed ethnicity and class-jumping is a solid modern update to evoke Peter Parker’s 1960s-era perilous social maneuvering. Nerds are cool now (at least some of us), so simply having an abiding interest in STEM wouldn’t be enough dramatic conflict for a compelling character. So the “updates” work to enhance character, not simply mapping a new face on the same character.

But the actual problem with equating a “Black Spider-Man” (who’s not Peter Parker) with a Black Superman (who’s not Kal-El) is Visibility. Literally. Miles is covered head to web-shooter with his Spider-suit, and thus to the denizens of his fictional New York City…he ISN’T Black/Puerto Rican, he’s simply a new hero with a similar outfit and powers to Spider-Man or perhaps the same Spider-Man with a different outfit. He is NOT “super-heroing while Black.” As HBO’s Watchmen asserted, a white vigilante is quaint and fun and inspiring and helpful to law enforcement, whereas a Black vigilante is viewed as a threat to righteous law & order and must be destroyed at all costs. Miles himself struggles with the notion of being defined by his ethnicity rather than simply for his actions. This is great for audiences and for especially for POC kids who travel along with Miles but we don’t necessarily know how he’d be treated by his comic book world if his skin was out.

Now a Superman who appears Black is quite different, simply by having his face visible for all to see. Because here you would have a super-powered member of a marginalized and oppressed minority being visibly awesome, unimpeachably Good and performing acts of altruism because It’s The Right Thing to Do over personal gain or expectation of good press. And his world would have to reckon with a being that, while resembling a group said world has historically attempted to subjugate and/or erase, has the capability of completely wiping them out. Now THERE’S dramatic potential.

Tangent: to be honest, if a Black actor had been cast in Zack Snyder’s 2013 Man of Steel, so many of the absolutely vile, cruel and disgusting treatments Clark endured during his interactions with humans would make more sense. As it stands, Clark, a tall, ridiculously jacked, incredibly handsome white dude is berated by a teacher as a child, bullied by his fellow students (with some vague ’he’s different’ insinuations) abused by his Deadiest Catch crewmates (who seem to blame him for almost getting crushed in an accident that wasn’t his fault), verbally and physically harassed by a bar patron because he interrupted the sexual harassment of his colleague, and regarded as an ongoing threat by the military. Even after he saved a bus full of kids, the mother of one of the rescued kids confronts Ma and Pa Kent coming in not with gratitude, but harsh accusations. She’s not grateful her daughter’s safe, she wants to know what’s wrong with your kid??? Now imagine Michael B. Jordan, or Trevante Rhodes or Aldis Hodge in Cavill’s role. Nobody needs to work that hard to imagine a Black kid being picked on, abused or suspected while innocent. Which would still of course, narratively speaking, require a scene where Kal-El decides to, in spite of these shitty humans, still work to help/save them. Which MoS definitely needed but never provided.

But here’s the truth about Superman: he’s a fictional character born on a fictional alien world. There is literally nothing to logically prevent new writers from imagining Kal-El as any ethnicity other than “appears human.” (No one seems to mind that he, an alien from a culture that evolved on a planet completely different from ours, looks EXACTLY like a human. But apparently he HAS to look like a white human). The essential elements of Superman’s story are:

He lands in Kansas.

He’s found by humans, raised to be a caring, compassionate person who is always looking to help others and lead by example.

He travels to the big city after his father dies from natural causes (showing that despite his amazing abilities, he can't save everyone; he's not actually a God).

Becomes a journalist at the Daily Bugle.

Meets Lois Lane.

I can’t believe it would be impossible to write a Black experience within those beats to make a compelling new story, that fits with classic Superman characterization. Maybe I’m just too hopeful…possibly due to reading too many Superman comics.