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Henry Cavill ditched Superman role after James Gunn announced new movie | Warner Bros.

December 15, 2022

Guardians of the Galaxy director and new DC Studios co-chairman James Gunn is writing a Superman movie that won’t involve actor Henry Cavill, who said it’s “not the easiest news” after he recently announced that he would return to the role.

The new Superman movie written by Gunn will take the character in a different direction and focus on the superhero’s younger years. The announcement comes amid a momentous shift at DC Studios and parent company Warner Brothers, which cut dozens of projects to cut costs after its merger with Discovery, Inc.

Cavill has played Superman since the 2013 film Man of Steel and last appeared in a cameo role in Black Adam earlier this year. In October, after stepping down from the lead role in the Netflix show The Witcher, he announced he would be returning to play Superman again.

On Wednesday, Cavill wrote on Instagram that Gunn and his co-chairman, Peter Safran, met with him to break the news.

“After all, I will not return as Superman,” Cavill wrote. “After being told by the studio to announce my return in October, before they were hired, this news isn’t the easiest, but that’s life. The changing of the guard is something that happens. I respect James and Peter have a universe to build. I wish them and everyone involved in the new universe the best of luck and the happiest of fortunes.”

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Fans might want to “cry a little,” he wrote, but “Superman is still here.”

“My turn to wear the cape has passed, but what Superman stands for never will. It’s been a fun ride with you all, up and up.

Gunn’s film will focus on the hero’s younger years, during his years as a Daily Planet reporter Clark Kent, with insiders telling The Hollywood Reporter that Gunn could potentially direct the film as well as write it.

“Peter and I have a DC slate ready to go, which we couldn’t be more delighted about; we will be able to share exciting information about our first projects at the start of the new year”, Gunn wrote on Twitter Wednesday. “Among those on the slate is Superman. In the early stages, our story will focus on an earlier part of Superman’s life, so the character won’t be played by Henry Cavill. But we just had a great meeting. with Henry and we are huge fans and have talked about a number of exciting possibilities of working together in the future.

Cavill’s announcement that he would return as Superman was reportedly signed by Warner Bros, before Gunn and Safran assumed their roles at DC Studios on November 1. Just six days prior, Cavill said in an interview that he was looking forward to playing an “extremely happy” Superman and was “very excited” about hiring Gunn.

On Tuesday, it was revealed that DC Studios’ Wonder Woman director Patty Jenkins will no longer be working on a third film in the franchise. Responding to the reports, she denied quitting, writing in a lengthy open letter, “I never left. I was open to considering whatever was asked of me. I understood that there was nothing I could do to advance anything at that time.

The Hollywood Reporter claims Gunn and Safran also sat down with Batman actor Ben Affleck to pitch the idea of him directing for them in the future.

A Black Superman movie written by author Ta-Nehisi Coates and produced by JJ Abrams is reportedly still in progress and will not be affected by Gunn’s film.

Gunn has long been in the running to make a Superman movie: In 2018, when Gunn left Marvel Studios for DC when he was temporarily fired from Guardians of the Galaxy Vol 3, then-Warners boss Toby Emmerich pushed Gunn to face Superman. Gunn instead wrote and directed The Suicide Squad.