Why a Black 'Superman' movie could be bigger than 'Black Panther' The film, which is looking for a Black director, will have America imagine a Black Messiah. An American legend's no longer being exclusively white is what we need to see.Anjali Nair / MSNBC; Alamy; Getty May 7, 2021, 9:30 AM UTC Superman is an American legend. At this point, it may not be too much of a stretch to call him the American legend, an archetype from which all iterations of the superhero mythos flow. He is a homegrown demigod, a character whose emblem is iconic and recognizable across cultures. His origin story is Mosaic, his mission messianic: an immigrant sent from beyond the stars, here to provide for the weak and save a world that isn't his own.