Oscar-winning screenwriter John Ridley plans new Batman comic series, hints character will be 'person of colour'

Oscar-winning screenwriter John Ridley is set to write a new Batman comic series, in which the Dark Knight will not be Bruce Wayne, but a completely different African-American character. During his panel at DC FanDome’s Hall of Heroes Legacy of the Bat virtual event, Ridley announced that he is writing a new four-issue mini-series about a Batman who is not Bruce Wayne. “I think it’s a pretty safe bet that if I’m writing Batman, it’s probably a little better than a 47 percent chance he’s going to be a person of colour,” Ridley said. He also hinted that the focus of the comic series will be the family of Lucius Fox, head of Wayne Enterprises. Fox is also one of Bruce Wayne’s closest allies. “But (Fox) 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,” Ridley added. Fox’s character has been essayed by Hollywood veteran Morgan Freeman in Christopher Nolan’s The Dark Knight trilogy and in the Batman Begins video game. Actors Ernie Hudson, Chris Chalk, and Phil LaMarr have also played the part in various other projects. The comic book mini-series will release next year in January.

The panel also revealed an illustration of a leaping Batman.

Ridley won an Academy Award for best-adapted screenplay in 2013 for his work on 12 Years of Slave.

(With inputs from agencies)