Continuing its way of filling its cast out with some seriously respectable actors, THE MAN OF STEEL has brought Laurence Fishburne in for the role of Daily Planet head honcho, Perry White. And I say good. He already played a hero’s ball-busting, curmudgeonly boss in the last MISSION: IMPOSSIBLE movie, so it doesn’t take much imagination to picture him in this part. It may some more imagination, though, to imagine him exclaiming, “GREAT CAESAR’S GHOST!” in this darker, edgier take on Supes.

Deadline reveals that this signing coincides with him opting out of another season of CSI. The last actor to play White at the movies was, of course, Frank Langella in SUPERMAN RETURNS, so it feels like we’re seeing a new tradition established here where White’s played by character actors with some unavoidably memorable genre roles in their past. I couldn’t help but see Skeletor in the Daily Planet offices last time. This time, maybe I won’t be able to not see Morpheus or hear the Silver Surfer there.

You’ll notice that I only bring up the characters Fishburne’s played in relation to this and not the fact that he happens to be an African-American actor. That’s because it should be a non-issue, just like it was with the casting of Nick Fury, Alicia Masters,Heimdall and the Kingpin. However, this announcement comes at almost the same time as the one about the identity of the new Ultimate Spider-Man and I feel the occasion warrants my commenting that the backlash against Miles Morales has to be the most knee-jerk, moronic hysteria I've seen in comics in a long time. It makes me embarrassed to be a fan.

Tom Pinchuk’s the writer ofHYBRID BASTARDS!&UNIMAGINABLE. Order them on Amazonhere&here. Follow him on Twitter:@tompinchuk

Dark and edgier huh... hope it works out in the end. Laurence is a great actor so i'm pretty optimistic.  
@Caligula said:

I like Larry. And I think the he will be great.  But seriously are white people so hard to find anymore?

I like Larry. And I think the he will be great.
 
But seriously are white people so hard to find anymore?

dark and edgy just like the green lantern sequel

Superman gets Morpheus. The movie is already sounding like it's going to be dark.

Wow, that's pretty interesting. This Superman movie continues to pique my curiosity more and more.

Dark and edgier huh... hope it works out in the end. Laurence is a great actor so i'm pretty optimistic.  
@Caligula said:

I like Larry. And I think the he will be great.  But seriously are white people so hard to find anymore?

its not that. Its just bringing a breath of diversity and modernization to this new superman. 

@difficlus said:

Dark and edgier huh... hope it works out in the end. Laurence is a great actor so i'm pretty optimistic.  
@Caligula said:

I like Larry. And I think the he will be great.  But seriously are white people so hard to find anymore?

its not that. Its just bringing a breath of diversity and modernization to this new superman. 

really? I know plenty of Black Men who adore Superman. I don't think changing Perry White's race is going to make Superman any more or less appealing. So how about just sticking with tradition.  As I said I love Larry, and I bet he give a great performance. But is it really necessary, or is it like Osiris' thread is debating "Diversity for the sake of Diversity" which I believe is the case here. It's totally pointless and serves no justifiable purpose.

What's wrong with having black people do white characters? I think he can do it well.

Wow, that's pretty interesting. This Superman movie continues to pique my curiosity more and more.

Said it on Screened and I'll say it again here:  I'm not cool with this!  
How dare Zach Snyder cast Lawrence Fishburne! 
 

…Not because of his race, but because every time I see Lawrence FIshburne I see this... 
  

But is it really necessary, or is it like Osiris' thread is debating "Diversity for the sake of Diversity" which I believe is the case here. It's totally pointless and serves no justifiable purpose.

So in a nutshell, he'll be an amalgam of J. Jonah Jameson and Robbie Robertson.

I'm NOT white, but what the heck is going on these days with white characters being replaced by blacks? 
This is beginning to be ridiculous and ANNOYING!!! And of all other race, they chose blacks and only blacks? 
Something is going on in this world. It appears that the entertainment industry is trying too HARD to shove blacks up our butts these days. 
 
Pay attention to all of your TV shows and movies. How often do we see a black dude having a relationship with a white chick, but not so much of a white dude having a relationship with a black chick?  
But they're NOT pushing to show a white chick having a relationship with other race (Latino/Asian/Middle Eastern etc.). This has NOTHING to do with diversity when only one race (BLACK) is selected for just about every role.

@Caligula said:

@difficlus said:

Dark and edgier huh... hope it works out in the end. Laurence is a great actor so i'm pretty optimistic.  
@Caligula said:

I like Larry. And I think the he will be great.  But seriously are white people so hard to find anymore?

its not that. Its just bringing a breath of diversity and modernization to this new superman. 

really? I know plenty of Black Men who adore Superman. I don't think changing Perry White's race is going to make Superman any more or less appealing. So how about just sticking with tradition.  As I said I love Larry, and I bet he give a great performance. But is it really necessary, or is it like Osiris' thread is debating "Diversity for the sake of Diversity" which I believe is the case here. It's totally pointless and serves no justifiable purpose.

Actually it does serve a purpose, like i said you may think it makes no difference but others internationally may have a different mind about seeing something edgier. So yes it can be justified. There is nothing wrong with diversity. it makes no difference TO YOU then why comment on it. 

What's wrong with having black people do white characters? I think he can do it well.

Superman gets the Matrix dude. The movie is already sounding like it's going to be dark.

@difficlus said:

@Caligula said:

@difficlus said:

Dark and edgier huh... hope it works out in the end. Laurence is a great actor so i'm pretty optimistic.  
@Caligula said:

I like Larry. And I think the he will be great.  But seriously are white people so hard to find anymore?

its not that. Its just bringing a breath of diversity and modernization to this new superman. 

really? I know plenty of Black Men who adore Superman. I don't think changing Perry White's race is going to make Superman any more or less appealing. So how about just sticking with tradition.  As I said I love Larry, and I bet he give a great performance. But is it really necessary, or is it like Osiris' thread is debating "Diversity for the sake of Diversity" which I believe is the case here. It's totally pointless and serves no justifiable purpose.

Actually it does serve a purpose, like i said you may think it makes no difference but others internationally may have a different mind about seeing something edgier. So yes it can be justified. There is nothing wrong with diversity. it makes no difference TO YOU then why comment on it. 

Black People are Edgier?... why? If I was black I'd take that as an insult.
And I comment on it, because diversity is fine if you ADD a black character. Don't turn into Zatanna and start changing classic characters races for the sake of having a diverse comic or film.
 
@SurelockeHomes said:

What's wrong with having black people do white characters? I think he can do it well.

Nothing's wrong.  But I bet you one million dollars if, a Black Panther film is made and they cast Daniel Craig as Black Panther, or if say Heidi Klum is Storm. See if the Black Community is as "cool" with it as they are this.

Wait a goddamned minute... Frank Langella played Skeletor? I think we all learned a thing about ourselves today, and Frank Langella.

@SurelockeHomes: I agree. Why are people unsettled by this when white actors played Indians in Ma & Pa Kettle? It's a real double standard.

@Caligula: Well, Perry White's ethnicity is not as much a part of his character as the Black Panther Or Storm.

@Caligula: I don't remember Superman throwing a plastic wrap es around his enemies.

@jointron33: This doesn't reek of anything but the best choice for the role. If they had cast Lion-O, I might have thought they were playing the race card. If they had cast George Lopez, then you know for a fact edgier was their intent. I'll clue everyone in on what I thought of his past works, I didn't see a black man playing a black part. Get on with it.

@Caligula: Yes, he may be white, but that doesn't matterwhen it comes to his character. Storm was hailed as a goddess in Africa, something much less likely to happen if she were white. Black Panther was the last in a long line of heirs to his throne. Something very unlikely for a white man as well. Am I sensing an attempt to patronize me?

I think he can do it fine. Maybe not who I would have picked to do the role of Perry but I think it can be fine nevertheless. After all, I think we've more than embraced Samuel L. Jackson as Nick Fury so, bring it on Laurence Fishburne!

I would have been pissed off if they replaced Black Panther with a white guy.

@SurelockeHomes said:

@Caligula: Yes, he may be white, but that doesn't matterwhen it comes to his character. Storm was hailed as a goddess in Africa, something much less likely to happen if she were white. Black Panther was the last in a long line of heirs to his throne. Something very unlikely for a white man as well. Am I sensing an attempt to patronize me?

there are plenty of white people in africa, also their is a lot more white kings in history than black ones so... your point is retarded.

Red Pill or Blue Pill

@Caligula: But Black Panther's character is central to his culture and homeland, that had there been white royalty in Africa it would have been made into a comic. His point is entirely accurate based on Marvel lore.

So many racist little fanboys, so little opportunity to spew their garbage. They must just be loving the opportunity to play the poor oppressed white-male over the last couple of days. Enjoy, guys! Unfortunately the casting of persons of color isn't something that happens every day.

@Caligula said:

@SurelockeHomes said:

@Caligula: Yes, he may be white, but that doesn't matterwhen it comes to his character. Storm was hailed as a goddess in Africa, something much less likely to happen if she were white. Black Panther was the last in a long line of heirs to his throne. Something very unlikely for a white man as well. Am I sensing an attempt to patronize me?

there are plenty of white people in africa, also their is a lot more white kings in history than black ones so... your point is retarded.

You guys can argue all you like but can you not use the word retarded?

re·tard·ed /riˈtärdid/

@Caligula: No, it's not. Take a look at my emphases. Yes, there are a lot of white people in Africa, but the Africans have had much bad history with them, and would probably be less likely to worship them. Maybe if they brought them rain, but it's still more likely that they would worship a woman who looked like them who brought them rain.
 We don't know for sure the comparison between white kings and black ones, but Get the point: A Long Line of heirs. In Africa. And Africans were building pyramids while my white ancestors were still hiding in caves. So your points are moot. Perhaps you just lack the mental capacity to comprehend what I'm saying to you.

@spiderbat87 said:

@Caligula said:

@SurelockeHomes said:

@Caligula: Yes, he may be white, but that doesn't matterwhen it comes to his character. Storm was hailed as a goddess in Africa, something much less likely to happen if she were white. Black Panther was the last in a long line of heirs to his throne. Something very unlikely for a white man as well. Am I sensing an attempt to patronize me?

there are plenty of white people in africa, also their is a lot more white kings in history than black ones so... your point is retarded.

You guys can argue all you like but can you not use the word retarded?

seriously?
 it's a perfectly accurate word for describing his arguments.

re·tard·ed /riˈtärdid/

Adjective: Less advanced, esp. mentally, than is usual for one's age.
 
stop worrying about being so PC.
 
@SurelockeHomes said:

@Caligula: No, it's not. Take a look at my emphases. Yes, there are a lot of white people in Africa, but the Africans have had much bad history with them, and would probably be less likely to worship them. Maybe if they brought them rain, but it's still more likely that they would worship a woman who looked like them who brought them rain.
 We don't know for sure the comparison between white kings and black ones, but Get the point: A Long Line of heirs. In Africa. And Africans were building pyramids while my white ancestors were still hiding in caves. So your points are moot. Perhaps you just lack the mental capacity to comprehend what I'm saying to you.

regardless. why the f*** would you mess with a characters history? Perry White predates both Storm and BP. If it was really about equality, why is it only the Black people who get the sympathy from creators for this kind of garbage. why not Asians or Hispanics or Indian?  If you want more diversity make a new character. Don't try to hide behind and already famous characters history.

New way of enforcing deadlines LMAO. This is good news, I like Fishburne.

Still not debating on a side buuut..... I bet the same people that call  someone racist because they are upset they are changing Perrys race would go ape$%$^ if they changed Robbie Robertson to white.
Yet the same people that are upset that they are changing Perry into a black man would be just as upset if they changed Robbie Robertson white.

@Caligula: My argument contains logic, and I've shown myself to be mentally superior to you this day. I have beaten you, evidenced by the fact that you had to resort to calling me retarded. You have reverted to calling my argument retarded, and discarded all logic. Therefore, by your own definition, your argument is lacking in the mental area. Call it barbaric if you will. Barbaric as in unsophisticated, primitive. You're acting like a child, insulting me because you didn't win.   Maybe he wasn't getting sympathy. Maybe he just out-acted all of the other actors. I am not making the diversity argument. I'm making the "He probably did better than everyone else who tried out" angle. It doesn't matter who came first. His ethnicity doesn't change his character one bit, based on history or anything else. I bet you would be at least equally irate if they took out Perry for another character and said "He's the owner of the daily planet."

@Dernman: Not so much and besides, Robbie isn't an essential character unless it came to a story about Tombstone. If they had cast Donald Glover as Spider-Man, I would still say it's an improvement over Maguire.

@Caligula: Yes but in those 200 comics his race isn't what defines the character it's his personality.  Perry white could have that same personality as a black man or a Latino woman.

@Caligula: When two men have opposing viewpoints and debate them, it is to see whose logic is superior. You never pointed out any flaws in my argument. You said a few irrelevant points, which I decided to rebut anyway, and you made another irrelevant response in the form of "Perry white came first." Yes, your use of the word "retarded" is equivalent to waving the white flag. Are you familiar with the seven stages of fanism? I'm sure if you look at them slosely enough, you may see the resemblance between yourself and what is being described, albeit in a different context. I set out with the goal of explaining to you why the logic of "This guy is black, he shouldn't play a white role" is flawed. I have explained myself, I even put some of it in bold so you could more easily see. You just responded with "That's retarded." PErhaps if you re-read it, paying attention to the points I have emphasized in italics and bold, you might understand.

Wow this thread got ugly fast