Just as we are getting over the fact that Rege-Jean Page is not returning for Season 2 of Bridgerton, we find out we were robbed of Rege-Jean’s presence on an earlier show for SyFy. But before I get to that, Rege-Jean reportedly turned down a $50,000 an episode pay day for Bridgerton because he already signed onto several other projects. Shortly after that revelation we also discovered that Rege was rejected by the beastly Geoff Johns, the former co-chairman of DC Films. Rege was not hired to play Superman’s grandfather for SyFy’s Krypton because, you know, racism. Supposedly Geoff believed that Superman could not have had a Black grandfather because Henry Cavill looks white. *Stares in Meghan Markle* What’s even more ridiculous about this revelation is that Geoff allegedly believed that fans were looking for someone who looked sort of like Henry Cavill. Cameron Cuffe, the actor they went with, looks absolutely nothing like Cavill. EW reports what Rege had to say about the incident:
On Tuesday, The Hollywood Reporter reported that Page had auditioned for the DC Comics TV role because the creators wanted nontraditional casting for the character. But multiple sources alleged to THR that Geoff Johns, the former co-chairman of DC Films who was overseeing the series, rejected the idea because Superman could not have a Black grandfather. Reps for Johns told THR that the longtime DC comics writer believed fans expected the character to look like a young Man of Steel star Henry Cavill.
“Hearing about these conversations hurts no less now than it did back then,” Page wrote on Twitter on Wednesday. “The clarifications almost hurt more tbh. Still just doing my thing. Still we do the work. We still fly.”
And flying he is, as it was just announced that Page will not be returning for Bridgerton season 2. “Pleasure and a privilege! An honour to be a member of the family — on and off screen, cast, crew and incredible fans — the love is real and will just keep growing,” Page wrote on Twitter after his exit was announced. The actor, who recently made his debut as an SNL host, will next be seen in Netflix’s highly anticipated action movie The Gray Man.
I actually watched Krypton and like the show despite feeling the main actor was lackluster. Now you are telling me that dude could have been Rege-Jean “the god” Page? We were ROBBED I tell you. Robbed. I honestly believed that if Rege-Jean was cast as Seyg-El, Superman’s grandfather, the show would have gotten more than two seasons. What is even more infuriating about this situation is that Seyg-El’s love interest in the show IS a biracial woman. I am not sure if she is the person that Seyg-El ends up with in the long run because the show ended, but please make it make sense. I swear the people in Hollywood casting are clueless. Also, Mr. Johns should know that having a Black grandparent doesn’t mean that you will turn out looking like Daniel Kaluuya and you most definitely can end up with Henry Cavill’s phenotype. Krypton was set 200 years before Superman so Superman having a Black grandfather is not unreasonable.
It seems that Geoff Johns is known for creating inhospitable environments for Black actors so this isn’t new. Between Joss Whedon and Geoff Johns, DC Films has a problem on its hands. And if DC Films really want to compete against Marvel and Disney, they will need to clean house and get better creators with vision, who can bring the comics to life. From this point on, Geoff will be known as the monster who robbed the world of Rege-Jean Page’s beauty and excellence and I will never forgive him for that.
Hearing about these conversations hurts no less now than it did back then. The clarifications almost hurt more tbh.
Still just doing my thing.
Still we do the work.
We still fly.
👊🏽
— Regé-Jean Page (@regejean) April 7, 2021
Photos via Instagram, Avalon.red
Well, their loss, right? I’m glad this is coming out after the incredible success of Bridgerton, that has made such a star of Reje-jean that he’s like, nah, I love you guys but I’m not coming back for 50k an episode, I’ve got too much else going on. It makes DC look so backward and….not creative. Doing something different, like having a Black grandfather for superman, would have gotten the show so much buzz, especially looking like Reje-jean. This should be a lesson for studios and directors and everyone involved that shows do not have to be all-white, you can mix it up and it will be fine! You can have the Black man be the lead and it will be a success!
Also…they live on another planet. A made-up planet.
I not a follower of the “Comics” but are not the citizens of Krypton all genetically engineered?
If I am correct then ANY actor could have played the grandfather of Superman and it would fit into the canon dogma of the “Superman” world.
Dunno either but if so…the further stupidity of racism
yup they grow them in artificia wombs, like pod people. On the show they explained that both parents gave a drop of blood and the child was genetically engineered depending on what was needed. So yeah no sense whatsover
I really want everyone worried about “realistic” looks for Superman’s grandfather to remember that Superman is not white, he is an alien from another planet in a comic book created by two Jewish immigrants to America. He fights for justice.
See my comment above as a response to “2.”.
I just really hope things turn out as well for Ray Fisher. It wasn’t until I saw the Snyder cut that I realized how talented he is. What a terrible shame.
As a black person these “reasons “ for why they can’t cast a POC actor for a role that is traditionally white always slay me. Like it’s a fictional character with made up alien genetics. Anyone could do it your just clinging to them looking white.
Also WB seems to have a glaring race and gender issue. Ray Fisher. Rege-Jean Page. Gal Gadot. The whole cast of Buffy. Bringing back Snyder Cut at the expense of Ava Duvernay’s movie. Firing the only black writer on the new Superman show. The stories coming out are just wild.
And this is also why people will always be more invested in Marvel movies. The diversity is there and not just in secondary or third-tier roles. They are looking for ways to be more inclusive, to find more fans, to make someone “super.”
And here we go with DC looking for ways to shut people out and put them down.
Also, the number of times we see people cast as family members who look nothing alike…Like…don’t hit me with casting issues based on appearance alone.
Wait, what happened to Ava DuVernay? I completely missed that.
Ava had signed on to write and direct a version of New Gods (dark side, big barda, etc). The movie was supposedly in development hell before being shelved. The official reason given by WB was that dark side and his friends were all seen in the Snyder Cut (baloney – Scott free, Barda, and the furies weren’t).
So WB official reason for shafting an amazing black female director was that zac Snyder’s messy vision comes first. *side eye*
Oh man I didn’t realize that. I remember her tweets about that project, didn’t realize it got shelved. And for the official reason being the snyder cut came first? Wow.
I should admit here that I feel like Ava and I are BFFs because once she liked one of my tweets, LOL.
After projects like Hamilton and yes, even Bridgerton, the “the don’t look alike” or “only white people were prominent in this part the world in this time period” arguments don’t fly for me. I’ve only ever seen diversity elevate a project, honestly. I don’t care if they look alike or if they look like the person they’re meant to be playing. That’s boring. I just want to see good actors!
This is a great point. We are seeing big-time how diversity pays off. So it’s mind-boggling that so many producers etc are still stuck in this “they have to be white” mentality. George Washington was white but i’ll watch Christopher Jackson play him any day of the week. (why wasn’t he on the list of sexiest bald men btw? he’s gorgeous lol).
Eh, I don’t go out of my way to pat Marvel on the back for diversity because outside of Black Panther, it’s been been pretty negligible. You don’t get credit for two single female led movies after a mountain of male ones, and after you killed two female characters in canon, so neither can even be in future projects. Even DC has had one POC-led project and a female one (Gadot is also Jewish for that matter), and they did it in a shorter time frame than Marvel, too. Both studios frankly have major issues with race and sex that they need to reconcile.
This is just super dumb because Rege is hot right now, so they could have been jumping on a popularity trend instead of being racist idiots.
I agree with you. Marvel is starting to do better now and I think this next phase is going to have a lot more diverse stories, but it took them a LONG time to get there. It took them a REALLY long time to have a film lead by a POC or a woman, too. And in the span of two films they killed off Gamora and Natasha in the SAME WAY, which kinda mortified me. While I appreciate the effort they’re putting in now, it’s not like they were leading the charge on this.
This is absolutely not a justification for Marvel (more of an explanation), but the MCU went through a change of leadership years back. Kevin Feige was previously reporting to Ike Perlmutter IIRC, who did not think audiences would turn out for superheroes played by women or POC. Feige no longer reports to Perlmutter and has a lot more control, which is why we see the changes within the last few years.
Their loss. This is just another example of how racism hurts us all. We were all deprived of Rege, and that show lost out on the chance to have a wider audience. Anyway, that photo of him in the black suit and those slipper shoes…my God, he is gorgeous. I kind of wish he would do one appearance in season 2. He could basically just stand around, giving Daphne one of those raised-eyebrow looks for a few minutes and get paid $50,000.
LOLOLOL Superman is an ALIEN! It’s like he came to Earth and put a costume on. ANYONE COULD BE HIS GRANDFATHER.
Your racism is showing, Geoff!
Life Doesn’t Frighten Me is a great book! Hopefully Regé-Jean Page’s success and excellence will lead to less of a iron grip on cinema by old white rapist, abusive, and/or pedophile men. Would be great. Or at least I hope he can have the kind of career he merits with amazing directors who actually appreciate him.
That is such a stupid and lazy excuse. First of all superman is a fictional character-and an alien!. Secondly, If Rege (a biracial man) were to have a child with a white woman the child might have a “white” phenotype. Look at Wentworth Miller or Tamera Mowry’s son for example.
I’m so sick of hearing that certain characters can’t be minorities for reasons. I mean…Kryptonian society was a mixture of races because they were all created in a freaking test tube. As far as I know…Michael Shannon isn’t black, but that certainly didn’t stop the Zods from having a black ancestor. Come on, Johns. Admit you’re a racist, who couldn’t tolerate seeing Superman’s lineage sullied with some black blood.
It’s upsetting but imo he’s talented and way beyond DC level.
DC has been problematic from day one.
From this s___ to trying to compete with Marvel when Marvel has BEEN doing the work for decades. I am not a Marvel fan girl but I absolutely appreciate the work that has gone into building the MCU. DC can’t even keep one Batman.
As everyone has said, Superman is a fictional alien, but it really just goes to show how people do not understand race. Ask any mixed race person from a multi-racial family: OF COURSE Rege-Jean could have a grandson that looks like Henry Cavill. I don’t look like any of my grandparents. So BIPOC actors continue to be deprived of work opportunities simply because the powers that be are that clueless. Yuck.
Oh my, How can he possibly be so handsome. Eesh. And I think he actually resembles Cavill a little. They’re both so beautiful and chiseled. Looking forward to seeing his star rise!