After establishing himself as Heimdall in the Marvel Cinematic Universe, Idris Elba joined the ever-growing club of actors who’ve batted for both teams by making the leap to the DC Extended Universe. Soon enough, we’ll see him lighting up the screen in James Gunn’s The Suicide Squad.
At first, Elba was brought on board to replace Will Smith, therefore it was assumed he’d take over the Deadshot role. Then, it was revealed he’s playing a different character altogether, with some reports even saying he may be Deathstroke. My gut tells me he’s actually Bronze Tiger, but let’s wait for confirmation on that one.
In the meantime, today we’ll imagine how it’d look if Idris played an icon we probably won’t see at all during Task Force X’s next mission. Granted, the image we’re about to show you came about because of his character declaring he’s “Black Superman” in Fast & Furious Presents: Hobbs & Shaw, but you’ll probably agree that the latest piece drawn up by acclaimed digital artist Boss Logic is pretty sweet, regardless.
As you can see, the costume worn is more reminiscent of the black suit fans never got to see Henry Cavill don in Justice League, as opposed to threads favored by notable Supermen of color in the comics such as Calvin Ellis or Val-Zod.
Truth be told, we can’t rule out the possibility of a true “Black Superman” in live action within our lifetime, though it probably won’t be Elba playing him because of his gig with Gunn’s production. Rumors of Michael B. Jordan landing the job abound and, if he did sign on the dotted line, he’d be a good choice because he’s already familiar with the source material. Heck, he outright said he’d rather play Calvin Ellis as opposed to Clark Kent – though I’ll forever remain partial to Val-Zod because I really dig his costume.
The Suicide Squad arrives in theaters on August 6th, 2021.