Spike Lee On ‘Black Superman,’ ‘Da 5 Bloods,’ And NYC Coming Back

Our podcast Brown & Black had a chance to talk to icon Spike Lee about his latest film Da 5 Bloods as he makes the rounds with press and film organizations before the award shows – the Golden Globes, the SAG Awards, the Critics Choice Awards, and the Academy Awards. We also asked him his opinion on a few other topics as well including his thoughts of writing a Black Superman reboot for Warner Bros. Full video interview coming soon. Read on.

Jack Rico (JR): I was stunned, shocked even, to understand no other major studio wanted to take on Da 5 Bloods. Why was Netflix the only one that believed in it? You’re Spike Lee. What movie studio wouldn’t want to be associated to a Spike Lee film, specially today?

Spike Lee (SL): Well, here’s the thing. Thanks for the question. When studios say no, I just keep it moving, you know.  I don’t want to be, “so why didn’t you make my film? What’s wrong with it?” I don’t stick around for the autopsy. I just keep it moving. This gives me the opportunity to thank Netflix on being the one to step up, because that is a true story that nowhere else this was going to get made.

Spike Lee with ‘Da 5 Bloods’ cast

Mike Sargent (MS): I want to ask you a little bit about the power of film. I think film is probably the strongest tool of propaganda that exists and from ‘Birth of a Nation’ until now… do you think film is also the one thing that can maybe change the way this country looks at itself by telling the true history of this country?

SL: I definitely agree with you. I think that art, not just film, but art could do that. A song, an album a novel, a painting, a photograph. I really feel that artists, when they choose to do this, can change minds for good or bad.

Black Superman

JR: News just came out that Ta-Nehisi Coates is going to be writing a Black Superman reboot for Warner Bros. We saw the power that Black Panther had on America and culture globally. What do you think the impact will be to see a Black Superman with our own eyes in this generation, specially after the Black Lives Matter movement and where the country is positioned today,

SL: I think it’s a power move and I’ll be one of the first people in line to see it in a movie theater.

MS: When you make a film like Da 5 Bloods, considering the fact there’s been so few or no film really about the Black experience in Vietnam, how do you weigh the balance between teaching a little bit of history, giving us facts, making us laugh, moving us all in one film.

SL: Cause that’s a lot. So I do it veeeeery carefully. My brother, not to make jest, but it’s like walking a tight rope, you know, one slip, you out.

JR: Finally, we’re all New Yorkers. Do you feel that New York is going to come back?

SL: They said the same thing about 9/11, Sandy hook, they got it twisted. All those haters got it twisted. So they better recognize.