Roland Emmerich wants Michael B. Jordan to save us from aliens in Independence Day sequels

Roland Emmerich surveys a bleak landscape ravaged by eye-catching special effects. A swarm of Mac-compatible alien motherships is headed towards Earth, intent on blowing up all of the landmarks that have been rebuilt since last time they all got blown up. He knows that Earth needs a hero. And he suspects that hero is Michael B. Jordan.

Jordan, currently earning raves for his starring role in Fruitvale Station, has met with Emmerich about starring in the not-at-all-awkwardly-titled ID Forever Part 1, hoping to join Jeff Goldblum and Bill Pullman as they resume the fight against White House-destroying aliens. No word on what character Jordan would play, or whether he'll be directly replacing Will Smith, who definitely won't be in the movies, except maybe he will, except probably not. (While conventional wisdom is that the erstwhile Fresh Prince is too expensive, it's possible Emmerich balked at the actor's suggestion that, this time around, the aliens should be defeated by an elite force made up of blood relatives of Will Smith, armed with karate and hair-whipping.)

Just as Smith was a well-liked actor on the verge of becoming a full-fledged movie star back when the original Independence Day made him into an A-lister, Jordan seems to be on the verge of blowing up, with upcoming roles as Apollo Creed's grandson in the Rocky sequel Creed, and a heavily rumored turn as the Human Torch in the Fantastic Four reboot that's contractually obligated to happen every five years. Jordan also has a romantic comedy coming up, That Awkward Moment, starring opposite Zac Efron and Imogen Poots.