Black Batman series by John Ridley coming in January 2021
Batman is being written afresh, and he will be a man of color this time. Putting all speculations to rest, Academy award-winning screenwriter John Ridley recently said that he is indeed developing a four-issue mini-series on the caped vigilante who won't be the white billionaire named Bruce Wayne. The announcement was made at DC FanDome's Hall of Heroes Legacy of the Bat event.
This is the first time that Ridley, who screenwrote 12 years A Slave will be writing for DC Comics. Nick Derington of Doom Patrol and Batman Universe fame will co-write this series that will premiere in January 2021. Ridley is also writing a short story for one-shot anthology titled Batman: Joker War Zone with noted comic-book artist Olivier Coipel leading the art production.
Speaking at the event about the development, Ridley said, "I think it's a pretty safe bet that if I'm writing Batman, it's probably a little better than a 47% chance he's going to be a person of color." The team added that it'll focus on the family of Lucius Fox, head of Wayne Enterprises, and someone from that family will be the new Batman.
The acclaimed screenwriter said Fox's family keeps many secrets that have a "different dynamic" from that of the Wayne family. "But [Fox] has a family and this is a family that has secrets, has kept secrets from one another," Ridley added. "It's a little bit different dynamic than the Batman that we've always seen." This brings better focus on the life of Luke Fox.
Notably, Lucius Fox was played by Morgan Freeman in the Dark Knight trilogy and in the Batman Begins video game. Ernie Hudson (Batman: Bad Blood), Chris Chalk (Gotham), and Phil LaMarr (various animated projects) were other actors who portrayed him on screen. Going further about the storyline, Ridley implied that his relationship with his two sons will play a major role in this series.
In fact, past comic runs suggest that Fox had developed the Batwing suit, which was used for the first time by police officer David Zavimbe from Congo under the authorization of Bruce Wayne to fight terrorist group Leviathan in Tinasha. Later, Fox's son Luke took the mantle. Rumor is rife that Warner Bros and DC want Black Panther actor Daniel Kaluuya for the role.
