Idris Elba has insisted he is responsible for the line “I’m black Superman” in the new Fast & Furious spin-off film.
The British actor joins the franchise as technologically enhanced super-soldier Brixton in Hobbs & Shaw, starring opposite Dwayne Johnson and Jason Statham, who reprise their roles as Luke Hobbs and Deckard Shaw.
While various members of the production, including Johnson, have claimed they came up with the line in the film, which features prominently in the trailer, Elba has said he wants to clarify it was him.
He told PA: “Listen, it was part of this really maniacal speech about why I’m so amazing, why enhancements are great and it just came out of my mouth, ‘Look at me, I’m black Superman’ and they started laughing and now everyone wants to take credit for it lads, but it really is mine.
“The case rests here. I don’t want to hear another word about you saying you wrote ‘black Superman’, you didn’t.”
The Londoner added he was also responsible for his character’s name in the film, saying: “His name was Brix in the script and it’s a great name but I was like, ‘Nah, let’s call him Brixton’.
“They were like, ‘Really? Is that a bit on the nose?’ But no, he’s Brixton Lore and I just think it sounds like an iconic name. Shout out to Brixton, I used to live in Brixton, so yeah my name is Brixton, nice to meet you.”
Elba is no stranger to franchises, having worked in Marvel’s Thor films, but said being part of Fast & Furious was particularly hard work.
He added: “It was good though, it was a good team to work with, if you’re going to work hard you might as well work with Dwayne and Jason, who are the biggest action movie stars in the world, so I looked forward to going to work every day.
“I went home with a bit of a headache though.”
The Luther star also had to get in shape for the role, saying: “Those guys are very fit, they are notoriously known for that, and I’m not.
“But I turned up, I definitely trained for this film to try and be as fit as I possibly could.”
Fast & Furious: Hobbs & Shaw is out now in UK cinemas.