Henry Cavill Not Returning as Superman in James Gunn’s New SUPERMAN Movie

Henry Cavill has had a tumultuous end to his 2022. First, we heard in a shocking announcement that Cavill would not return as Geralt of Rivia in Netflix’s hit show The Witcher. This marked the most major recast in recent history. Then it was announced that Cavill would return as DC’s Superman. Cavill made his appearance in a loudly-hinted-at after the credits scene in Black Adam. Now that will not come to pass either. There will, however, be a new Superman movie coming to the DCEU. Henry Cavill and James Gunn took to social media to share their respective Superman news.

Cavill notes that returning as Superman seemed confirmed from his perspective. And so he announced he would once again play the epic role. However, a recent meeting seems to have changed this. It makes sense that things are shifting in DC’s world, but this feels like one evolution no one could have expected.

As Cavill notes, James Gunn and Peter Safran recently took over as co-CEOs of DC Studios. And their charge is to put together a master plan for DC’s cinematic outings. Since Gunn has been dropping hints about the new world he is creating on-screens for DC. Everyone expected that after Black Adam, this plan would include Cavill as Superman, though. But it sounds like the refreshed DCEU will have a brand-new Man of Steel.

Gunn offers, “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.” However, he makes sure to clarify in a later post that the new Superman movie coming to the DCEU is not an origin story for the hero. But he does go on to say, “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.”

Whether that’s placating or promise, we’ll have to wait and see. But ultimately, we feel sad for Cavill, who clearly hoped to return as Superman for a long time. But as he reminds us, we can feel sad for a bit, but must remember Superman goes on. Whoever wears the cape in the future, we can’t wait for the next chapter of the character’s legacy.