On Wednesday, April 7, an article said that former Chief Creative Officer of DC Entertainment Geoff Johns refused to cast a black actor in the lead role of Seg-El, Superman’s grandfather. This is probably the role that Bridgerton Star, Regé-Jean Page, auditioned for in the 2019 TV series.
Regé-Jean Page ‘s words
On the same day of the article, the famous actor tweeted: “Hearing about these conversations hurts no less now than it did back then. The clarifications almost hurt more tbh. Still just doing my thing. Still we work. We still fly.”
Regé-Jean went on to star as The Duke of Hastings in Netflix’s hit period drama Bridgerton, praised for its diverse casting. But, despite fans’ hope, he will not return for the second season.
Multiple sources said that Krypton‘s creators wanted to do some non-conventional casting when searching for Superman’s grandfather. However, they were shut down by Johns.
Johns’ response to the accusations
A Johns’s representative responded to the accusations. He stated that “Johns believed fans expected the characters to look like a young Henry Cavill”, who had the role of Superman in various DC films.
He also added that Johns never said Superman can’t have a Black ancestor. This because there were different versions of Superman throughout the comics for decades.
Furthermore, Johns was accused of turning down the creators’ idea to make one superhero character gay or bisexual. Also in this case, Johns’ rep shut down the rumours.
