Bridgerton star Regé-Jean Page almost had a place in the DC Universe as Superman’s grandfather, but the nontraditional casting choice was reportedly scuttled by Geoff Johns, then the Chief Creative Officer at DC Entertainment.
Page, who appeared in the History Channel’s remake of Roots in 2016, auditioned for the lead role in Krypton, according to The Hollywood Reporter. The SyFy series was set on Superman’s homeworld about 200 years before its destruction, following the efforts of Seg-El, father of Jor-El, to restore the honor of the family name.
Click the button below to start this article in quick view.
Krypton‘s creators were big on nontraditional casting and wanted to sign Page, whose father is English and mother is Zimbabwean. But Johns reportedly said Superman’s grandfather could not be a Black man and overruled them. A representative for Johns said he was following fan expectations that Seg-El should resemble Henry Cavill, the Superman in DC’s films.
The same sources said the creative team wanted to make Adam Strange, the show’s visitor from Earth, gay or bisexual, but Johns reportedly shot down that idea as well.
Cameron Cuffe was ultimately cast as Seg-El on Krypton, which aired for two seasons from 2018 to 2019. Johns stepped down as DC Entertainment President and CCO in 2018, switching to a writer/producer role. Page went on to stardom as Simon Bassett, the Duke of Hastings, in the first season of Netflix’s period drama Bridgerton, based on the series of novels by Julia Quinn. Page signed for only one season and will not return in Season 2, which does not have a release date.
Source: The Hollywood Reporter
About The Author
