Comedian/actor Bassem Youssef recently made headlines when he revealed that he was all set to play a supporting character (believed to be Rumaan Harjavti) in Superman: Legacy before being told that his role had been cut.
Youssef wondered if he may have lost the opportunity because of pro-Palestine comments he made during an interview with Piers Morgan last year.
"In the United States of America, you can talk about Joe Biden, you can talk about Donald Trump, but you cannot criticize a foreign government which is kind of, like, very sad, you know? And then because of that, I was cast in the movie Superman, and then they told me, 'We changed the script' after this Piers Morgan interview, and I want to assume good faith."
"I understand maybe the people who are, you know, in charge, they took the decision, looked at me and didn't want to have me and maybe I understand," he added. "If I'm Arab Muslim, I was the head of Warner Bros., I wouldn't like a pro-zionist or pro-Isreal to be in my movie if he attacked my people. This is the thing that we need to dissect: when I attack Israel, I attack its policy, I’m not attacking Jewish people."
Although he never outright claimed that his pro-Palestine stance was the reason he lost the role, the insinuation was enough to generate some controversy, and James Gunn weighed in shortly after to make it clear that Youssef's part was cut prior to the interview in question.
Now, Youssef has shared a video to set the record straight and clear things up once and for all.
The upcoming DCU reboot will star David Corenswet as the Man of Steel, Rachel Brosnahan as Lois Lane, and Nicholas Hoult as Lex Luthor, along with Isabela Merced as Hawkgirl, Edi Gathegi as Mister Terrific, Nathan Fillion as Green Lantern Guy Gardner, and Anthony Carrigan as Metamorpho.
More recently, Sara Sampaio signed on to play Lex's assistant/lover Eve Teschmacher, and Skyler Gisondo has been cast as Jimmy Olsen.
Members of the anti-hero team The Authority are also expected to appear, and María Gabriela de Faría (Animal Control) has been cast as Angela Spica/The Engineer.
Milly Alcock's Supergirl is also rumored to make her debut ahead of her own Woman of Tomorrow movie, but that's yet to be confirmed.
We're still not sure exactly how these other superheroes will factor into the story, but Gunn has previously revealed that Superman's dual-life as both Clark Kent and the Man of Steel will be explored in the film, suggesting that these characters will be his "super friends." Whether they'll be part of an actual team or not remains to be seen.
“Superman: Legacy is the true foundation of our creative vision for the DC Universe. Not only is Superman an iconic part of DC lore, he is also a favorite character for comic book readers, viewers of earlier movies, and fans around the world," said Gunn during the DCU slate announcement. "I can’t wait to introduce our version of Superman who audiences will be able to follow and get to know across films, movies, animation and gaming.”
Production is reportedly scheduled to get underway this March.