Will Smith As A Superhero

Superheroes are as American as Hollywood itself. Take the box-office success of such franchises as Superman, Batman, X-Men, and The Fantastic Four. America has long had an infatuation with the men and women who can right society’s ills, keeping the world safe for the upstanding good guys.

But black superheroes in Hollywood are a definite rarity. Robert Townsend made an earnest, yet ill-fated attempt at being a superhero in his 1993 film, The Meteor Man. That film, in which Townsend was the star, director, producer, and writer, made a paltry $8.3 million. Wesley Snipes scored favorably with the Blade trilogy, based on the comic book series. That franchise, beginning in 1998, has grossed $417.9 million worldwide. Then there is Halle Berry, who continues to reprise her role as Ororo in the superhero ensemble of the X-Men franchise. Berry also landed the title role as the bad girl and heroine in Catwoman, which was a 2004 box-office disappointment. And let’s not forget Michael Jai White as Spawn back in 1997.

Now it’s Will Smith’s time to show off his super fetes. It’s no accident that Smith has been dubbed Mr. July. It’s a title he’s earned to the tune of a combined $2.5 billion at the box office thanks to such summer spectacles as Independence Day, Men in Black, Men in Black 2, Bad Boys I and II, and I, Robot. This summer, Smith gets a chance to dazzle audiences in Hancock, which is described as an action-comedy.

Read more:  BlackEnterprise.com