US fans petition for DC Extended Universe's first Black Superman

Warner Bros. announced in February that it's developing a new movie with J.J. Abrams and writer Ta-Neshi Coates featuring a Black Superman, and fans have been speculating who should play him.

The Good Place star William Jackson Harper recently learned that a petition surfaced online to suggest him for the role, which took him by surprise.

The 41-year-old actor was promoting his role on Amazon's The Underground Railroad on Jimmy Kimmel Live Tuesday evening, when he revealed the petition “blindsided” him, according to the Daily Mail.

“It definitely blindsided me. I was doing another interview and this guy was like yeah, this (tweet) got 55,000 likes. Like, what, why?! Who knows me?” Harper joked.

“I mean, that would be dope. That would be the best thing that could happen to me, to be able to play Superman. I don’t wanna do the diet or the exercise part, but yeah,” he joked.

Kimmel joked that fans may have gravitated towards Harper because his character Chidi on The Good Place wore glasses, like Superman's alter-ego Clark Kent.  

“I think so. That’s gotta be the only explanation, ’cause otherwise I’m just a nerdy professor dude,” Harper added.

The Black Superman project was first announced back in February, with Ta-Neshi Coates writing the script and J.J. Abrams producing.

There was another report in May that also revealed Coates is expected to turn in his draft of the screenplay by December, and revealing Warner Bros. is committed to  finding a Black director for the project.