*Oscar-winning screenwriter John Ridley will write the new Batman comic series with plans to turn the icon superhero into a person of color.
During a DC FanDome virtual panel on Saturday, DC publisher Jim Lee confirmed that Ridley is writing the miniseries. An illustration of the character was also released– see Twitter embed below.
The four-issue comic is scheduled to release in January.
Ridley said the series will focus on the family of Lucius Fox, who is one of Bruce Wayne’s closest allies. Fox was also the president of Wayne Enterprises, per AV Club.
“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 the panel.
READ MORE: John Ridley Bringing His Comic Book Series ‘The American Way’ to the Big Screen
Oscar-winner John Ridley joins forces with artist Ladrönn for a new #Batman mystery — sneak peek straight from #DCFanDome ? pic.twitter.com/GK1U5Qpkzg
— Batman (@DCBatman) August 22, 2020
“A big part of my life has been around, Batman—has been around people who choose to do better. And even if some of that is just wish fulfillment, you know, it is part of what we want our young people, kids, to believe in: that everybody can be part of the process. And for a long time, as was said, you know, for those of us who are outside of the prevailing culture, it didn’t matter the race of Batman or Superman or Wonder Woman. We just identified with the idea of trying to be the fabric of an environment that was better,” he said.
“What’s very exciting for me is that I’m going to have the opportunity to delve into the Fox family. So you have Lucius Fox…the person who’s been at Batman’s side nearly the longest. But he has a family, and this is a family that has secrets, has kept secrets from one another. It’s a little bit different dynamic than the Batman that we’ve always seen.”
Fans of the movie franchise will recall Morgan Freeman portrayed Fox in Christopher Nolan’s “The Dark Knight” trilogy. Ernie Hudson also played the fictional character in “Batman: Bad Blood.”
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