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SYFY WIRE Fast & Furious Presents: Hobbs & Shaw

Idris Elba refers to himself as 'The Black Superman' in Hobbs & Shaw CinemaCon footage

By Brian Silliman
Idris Elba in Hobbs & Shaw (Credit: Universal)

Universal continued to roll out the riches at CinemaCon on Wednesday, showing a ton of new footage from the film Fast & Furious Presents: Hobbs & Shaw. The film is the first spin-off in the Fast and Furious franchise, and naturally focuses on the characters of Hobbs (Dwayne Johnson) and Shaw (Jason Statham). It also features Idris "so hot right now" Elba as the villain, and he apparently stole the selection of footage with a single line.

According to io9, the sizzle showed some of what the movie's story actually is about — Shaw's sister, Hattie (The Crown's Vanessa Kirby), has stolen a world-killing virus (yeah, one of those) from Elba's character, Brixton. Hattie goes to her brother for help, and their mother (Helen Mirren) forces him to comply. Hobbs gets involved somehow, and in trying to escape from Brixton they all end up on an island with Hobbs' family, exploring Hobbs' Samoan culture. This is going to be one fast and furious family affair!

The footage reportedly contained all of the hallmarks that you'd expect from movies in this franchise (cars, explosions, exploding cars, quips, exploding car quips, etc. ...), but one line from the genetically enhanced Brixton is where the real money is: At one point during the footage, he refers to himself as "The Black Superman."

In the DC multiverse, one character who already bears that title is Calvin Ellis. He is still from Krypton, but the name he was born with is a dash-less "Kalel." Not only is he Superman, but he's the president of the United States as well. He operates out of the White House, with Brainiac serving as his digital assistant and occasional cover. Ellis memorably appeared during the "Final Crisis" event, where Superman was joined by various iterations of himself from around the multiverse.

Is Elba's Brixton being literal when he says the line? Is Hobbs & Shaw actually a stealth DCEU film, and a gateway into featuring Elba as Kalel in all future DCEU films? It's highly unlikely. Though Kal-Elba would be great in the part (even if fans seem to prefer Michael B. Jordan, who is into the idea), it's probably just another quip in a film that is going to be positively busting with them. But hey, at least Brixton has superpowers.

Fast & Furious Presents: Hobbs & Shaw will present both Hobbs, Shaw, their families, quips, and Black Superman on Aug. 2.