John Ridley, the writer of 12 Years a Slave and creator of the TV series American Crime, hinted that the four-issue DC Comics mini-series he's writing about Batman will likely feature a person of color donning the iconic cowl, per Entertainment Weekly.
"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," Ridley said during his panel at DC FanDome's Hall of Heroes "Legacy of the Bat" event Saturday. He implied that his version will be centered around the family of Wayne Enterprises president and CEO Lucius Fox, who was portrayed by Morgan Freeman Christopher Nolan's Dark Knight trilogy.
"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." TMZ notes Lucius' son Luke has been mentioned in previous iterations as one of the Caped Crusader's sidekicks.
The limited series is expected to be released in January 2021.
It has been a big week in Batman-related news. Aside from the debut of the new teaser for the Matt Reeves-directed The Batman, DC Fandome also confirmed that Batman: The Long Halloween will be adapted into a two-part animated film slated for next year. Prior to DC's big virtual event, it was reported that Ben Affleck would reprise his role one last(?) time for The Flash movie, which will not hit theaters until 2022.
