John Ridley Says He’s Writing Batman As A “Person Of Color” In his Upcoming DC Comics Series

American screenwriter, television director, novelist, and showrunner John Ridley says he’s writing the next Batman as a “person of color.”

Ridley, 54, gave us the heartbreaking but captivating film “12 Years A Slave.” Now, he has his eyes set on giving DC Comics its first Black Batman. During Ridley’s panel at DC DanDome’s Hall of Heroes “Legacy of the Bat” event, which took place on Saturday, the news was released that Ridley would be writing a new four-issue mini-series about a Batman, who is not Bruce Wayne, Entertainment Weekly reports.

While this isn’t his first time working with DC, this will be his first time writing about the Dark Knight. “I think it’s a pretty safe bet that if I’m writing Batman, it’s probably a little better than a 47% chance he’s going to be a person of color,” Ridley said during the panel. He added that the series will center around #LuciusFox, the head of Wayne Enterprises.

“But [Fox] has a family and this is a family that has secrets, has kept secrets from one another,” said Ridley. “It’s a little bit different dynamic than the Batman that we’ve always seen.”

Christopher Nolan’s vision of Batman cast #MorganFreeman as “Fox” in his “Dark Knight” trilogy. Other actors who have taken on that role include Phil LaMarr, Chris Chalk, Ernie Hudson, and more.