Michael B. Jordan Developing Superman Show For HBO Max Centered on Val-Zod

While Michael B. Jordan isn’t playing Superman in the upcoming JJ Abrams-produced movie, he is developing a his own Superman show for HBO Max looking at Val-Zod. Collider reports that Jordan is developing the series through his production shingle Outlier Society and that it will be a limited series. Jordan is producing and may star in the show, though he has yet to commit to the latter aspect at this time.

Val-Zod was created by Tom Taylor, Nicola Scott, and Robson Rocha, making his first appearance in Earth 2 #19 in 2014. One of the last Kryptonians of the Earth-2 universe, he was the last of his line after his parents were executed by the Krypton Court. Befriending Kara Zor-El (Supergirl), he also escaped his home planet’s destruction and ended up on Earth. Along the way he was educated in his capsule by knowledge left from his parents and took a path of pacifism.

The report cites another piece by Jamie Broadnax for Black Girl Nerds, in which she said that according to sources, Jordan was not interested in the upcoming film produced by Abrams and written by Ta-Nehisi Coates because he wasn’t interested in “:engage in conversations about racebending Kal-El,” as it would be a tone-deaf decision to do so while erasing Calvin Ellis and Val-Zod, two Black characters who already exist as Supermen from other Earths.