It’s no secret that the DCEU is essentially being scrapped with James Gunn and Peter Safran, the new heads of DC Studios, rebooting the whole thing from scratch. This, however, follows the big hullabaloo over Henry Cavill’s return as Superman in a cameo in Black Adam after he skipped the opportunity to appear in Shazam!. It looked as though Cavill was set to return in a proper Man of Steel sequel, but now it seems that Gunn and Safran have gone all in on the reboot.
It appears the duo sat down with Cavill for a meeting in which they… well, fired him.
Henry Cavill Confirms He’s No Longer Superman
Cavill took to Instagram to reveal:
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It was earlier reported that Cavill quit his hit Netflix series The Witcher to focus on playing Superman again. Fans have speculated on whether this recent revelation means that Cavill will return to The Witcher.
No. He already declined and Netflix signed Liam Hemsworth to replace him. That contract is already signed. And most companies simply aren’t going to take back someone who walked away from a job.
The Future Of Superman In The DCEU
Even though Henry Cavill won’t be playing Superman anymore, Gunn and Safran have stated that the character will be one of the major focuses of the DCEU (if they’re still calling it that) moving forward. In fact, Gunn has announced that he is writing a new Superman movie. (Yes, the first person Gunn has hired to work for DC Studios is himself.)
He quickly shot down speculation that he would draw from Brightburn a dark Superman-inspired horror movie written by his brother Brian and their cousin Mark. Instead, Gunn revealed that he wants to capture the vibe of Richard Donner’s Superman: The Movie.
Gunn announced via Twitter:
“Peter & I have a DC slate ready to go, which we couldn’t be more over-the-moon about; we’ll be able to share some exciting information about our first projects at the beginning of the new year. Among those on the slate is Superman. In the initial stages, our story will be focusing on an earlier part of Superman’s life, so the character will not be played by Henry Cavill. But we just had a great meeting with Henry and we’re big fans and we talked about a number of exciting possibilities to work together in the future.”
Peter & I have a DC slate ready to go, which we couldn’t be more over-the-moon about; we’ll be able to share some exciting information about our first projects at the beginning of the new year.
— James Gunn (@JamesGunn) December 15, 2022
The Ta-Nahisi Coates Black Superman movie remains in development, which is surprising. But maybe this is being viewed the same way as Matt Reeves’ The Batman and Todd Phillips’ Joker. They are their own entities and not connected to the larger universe.
Reportedly, Gunn’s Superman will focus on a younger Clark Kent, who is a “cub reporter” at the Daily Planet. Audiences will be introduced to new versions of Lois Lane and Clark’s other co-workers.
No word on when this picture will be out. It will likely be a few years out. This is probably for the best, to let some audience members sort of forget about the Snyderverse.
How would you like to see Superman handled on the big screen moving forward? What will you miss about the current DCEU?
