EXCLUSIVE: Dillon D Jordan’s PaperChase Films and Fandom are collaborating to produce serial podcast Superman Vs. The Ku Klux Klan, recalling the true story of how everyday citizens infiltrated and exposed the KKK in the 1940s.
The team will produce an initial 10 episodes, launching this spring. The project is based on the true events recounted in Rick Bowers’s 2012 novel of the same name, which chronicles the story of Stetson Kennedy, a man who went undercover to infiltrate the Klan in 1946. Unsure what to do with his findings, he partnered with the producers of the Superman Radio Show to make a series of episodes, titled ‘Clan of the Fiery Cross’, which exposed many of the group’s secrets to a wider audience.
The podcast will be created in a style based on the format of the original Superman Radio Show, which broadcast for more than 2,000 episodes between 1940 and 1951, shortly after the Man of Steel’s comic book debut.
It will be hosted and executive produced by Roth Cornet, head of development for Fandom, along with Max Dionne, supervising producer and Michael Chiang, senior vice president of programming. Comedian Ed Greer will co-host.
A Superman Vs. The Ku Klux Klan feature film, also based on Bowers’s book and first announced in 2018, is now in pre-production with further announcements expected soon. Adi Shankar, whose credits include Netflix’s Castlevania, is producing the feature with Dillon D Jordan at PaperChase and Marc Rosen (Sense8). Vikram Salgaocar will executive produce.
“We’re excited to serialize Superman Vs The KKK in a format that recalls the days of radio-drama. The Fandom team brings an enormous amount of insight and talent to the project, and we’re sure the results will be fantastic. There’s something powerful here: a timely lesson on the dangers of systemic racism — an issue that modern audiences are sure to find compelling.” Said Jordan.
“This story is an incredible mix of undercover journalism, brand activism, and the power of pop culture to change the world,” added Cornet. “We live in an era where fans identify themselves by the things they love, so there is incredible power in harnessing this passion to make an impact.”