“You Can’t Be Messing Up White People’s Heroes In Hollywood”: The Real Reason Will Smith Rejected Superman

Will Smith and Brandon Routh’s Superman

Will Smith is no stranger to playing action roles and has portrayed several popular characters. However, Will turning down superhero roles has also been a topic of discussion among his fans. Despite playing these fictional characters outside the MCU and DC, Will avoids portraying ‘white people heroes’.

The Oscar-winning actor has gotten several opportunities to enter the superhero universe. It was revealed that Will had been offered to play both Brandon Routh’s Superman and Captain America. However, he denied the roles for them being white in the comics

Will Smith Could’ve Been Superman In ‘Superman Returns’ 

Will Smith
In an interview with MTV, Smith talked about being offered the role of Superman in ‘Superman Returns’. He said, “The script came, and I was like, ‘There is no way I’m playing Superman! I had already done Jim West, and you can’t be messing up white people’s heroes in Hollywood! You mess up white people’s heroes in Hollywood, and you’ll never work in this town again!”

▼ Advertisement by Refinery89

Will has always spoken against the idea of a ‘cultural shift’ leading to using black people as the leads claiming that nobody liked that. Additionally, he talked about disliking the idea of a ‘squeaky clean superhero’ and revealed that he wanted to portray someone not so perfect. This led to him playing the flawed superhero ‘Hancock’. On the other hand, the role of Superman became a lot darker in the following years.

In case you missed it: Will Smith Thinks His Fame Is A “Unique Monster”. Here’s Why

‘Hancock’ Beat ‘Superman Returns’ In The Box Office

Superman and Hancock
While ‘Superman Returns’ was an already-established franchise ‘Hancock’ was something totally different and new. Despite the film’s release after a two-year gap ‘Hancock’ earned $624 million worldwide upon its release in 2008, 38% more than ‘Superman Returns’.

▼ Advertisement by Refinery89

DC’s ‘Superman Returns‘ had a lifetime box office collection of $391 million. However, the ratings for both movies were pretty similar with ‘Hancock’ having a 6.4 on IMDB and ‘Superman Returns’ getting a 6.1.