The film “Hobbs & Shaw” will be hitting the big screen soon, and viewers will get to see Idris Elba take on the villainous role of Brixton Lore, a character who’s described as having “cyber-genetically enhanced” fighting skills.
That’s probably why Elba screams “I’m black Superman” in the film, which has gotten a lot of attention due to the trailer. But the British actor was actually supposed to call himself the “black James Bond” in the line, but it was switched during filming.
That’s because Elba’s name has been attached to playing the first black 007 for quite some time, and he didn’t want to perpetuate the chatter.
“It’s too close to what everybody’s talking about,” he said on set, according to Dwayne Johnson, who plays Luke Hobbs in the film.
Then in another part of the interview, Johnson claimed it was he who came up with the Superman line, despite what others have said.
“Everyone loves ‘the black Superman’ line,” the former wrestler explained. “Everyone’s taking credit for it, Idris, our director, our producers … [But] I came up with that. I said, ‘What about the black Superman?’ And everyone’s like, ‘Great.’ [But] now everyone takes credit.”
Elba doesn’t recall things that way, however, and he said the line came from him out of nowhere, which producer Hiram Garcia agreed with.
“That line was just improvised,” Elba told Variety. “I was in one of these takes and I was really riffing, and then it came out and [director David Leitch] loved it, and so we kept it.”
“[Elba] just shouted it out,” Garcia added. “He was talking trash, shouted it out and we said, ‘This is incredible.’ [The line] was his so he ran with it. He loved it, and that line really stuck, and we’re so happy the fans responded to it.”
In related news, the British actress Lashana Lynch will reportedly take over as the new 007, but not as Bond, played by Daniel Craig; she’ll play an entirely different character.
“Hobbs & Shaw” hits theaters on August 2.
