I love the casting of Laurence Fishburne as Perry White in the new Zack Snyder version of the Superman myth. It's great. Fishburne has reached a point in his career where he can bring almost any role up to a level of effortless solemnity or down to a chilling "don't fuck with me" level, occasionally at the same time, as his Morpheus in The Matrix proved. I'm betting his Perry White will be a somewhat more level-headed chap than his previous film portrayals; Frank Langella and Jackie Cooper played him in the previous film incarnations of the character. They were both fine, but all of those films tended to use Superman's Clark Kent persona as a bit of comic relief. I'd love to see it be a bit more serious this time around, perhaps even using his cover as a journalist to facilitate his adventures. (And if the rumors of him traveling to South Africa in the film are any indication, I might get my wish.)
Whether he hams it up or is suitably surly towards Clark and Lois, Fishburne should be a fine addition to the cast. If nothing else, it should be interesting to see how the (hopefully small) minority of horribly racist comic book fans will react to the news of an African-American taking on the role of Perry White. If you haven't heard, the recent announcement of a half-black, half-Hispanic teenager taking over the mantle of Spider-Man following Peter Parker's death in the Ultimates universe has caused an almost hysterical outcry in some circles, and has even caused a leading comic book retailer to react with racist jokes. One can only imagine that the usual gang of idiots will be reacting to this casting with jokes about affirmative action or Warner Bros. being too politically correct.
