Henry Cavill’s New Black Superman Suit – What Does it Mean for the DCCU?

We are all very polarized by DC’s new take on Big Blue (or maybe Big Black?!?).  Many purest feel that this dark tone is a terrible setting for a character rooted in bright and vibrant truthy justice. There are others, who like the darker tone and might like a darker suit to match.

From this image that  Henry Cavill posted on Instagram:

We can see that the hashtag seems to indicate that this is not to be confused with the costume he will dawn in The Man From UNCLE II. But rather a sneak peek at his new Superduds.

Now, these movies exist outside of the comics and are adaptations.  But often times, story, plot, characters, and even black super suits are elements from the comics, remixed for the film. Looking at BvS,   we see it is heavily influenced bothe thematically and plot-wise, by the Frank Miller Graphic novel: The Dark Knight Returns.

The incorporation of Doomsday and even the “trinity” team-up are all originally a part of the comic mythos (no matter how small a role it plays in the film).

So, that leads us to believe that this suit news might also indicate some comic sources that might be behind the next few films.

But Superman Does not wear a Black suit!?!

On the contrary, Superman is not always seen in his iconic red and blue. Here are the few occasions where he does indeed dawn a black suit and what that might mean for the DC cinematic universe and Superman’s next appearance.

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The most notable and likely instance comes from “The Return of Superman” 1980’s comics.

The Return of Superman

Assumed dead after battling Doomsday the superhero re-emerges with a new black and chrome suit and a pristine mullet to find other heroes have dawned his title. It is most likely that this is the “Rebirth” suit we will see but there are some other possibilities.

Kingdom Come

Kingdom Come speaks more to the potential story rather than the wardrobe choice. An aged Superman comes out of retirement to end a metahuman war that has the potential to destroy the world. Some of the events of BvS and Dawn of Justice lead towards this direction.

Superman Beyond

This spinoff of Batman Beyond, is about another old Superman but this time in a different future.  The story is less likely to go in this direction but the suit is black so it is on the list.

Superman Black Lantern

This is again pretty farfetched, but if the DC cinematic universe keeps combining story arcs  they way they are (see BvS) they might be forced into this route. This suit comes from the Blackest Night Story arc where Superman and other heroes have been taken over by black power rings. The Black Lanterns are the Lanterns of Death and this story would be very dark indeed.

Superman Injustice

Not a comic story but rather this Superman suit is a skin from the Injustice video game.  The story revolves around an alternate dimension where Superman goes dark after the Joker, yes the Joker, kills Lois.  He basically takes over the earth and must be stopped. With the mashup of stories and dream sequences that went on in Batman v. Superman taking inspiration from this arc also seems somewhat plausible.

What do you think?

Do you like Superman in Black? What story arc will be DC’s reference for the upcoming Superman movies?

Let us know, in the comments below!

–H00k 0ut