Henry Cavill confirmed that he will not be returning as Black Adam just a few months prior.
The DCU will be moving forward with a new version of the Man of Steel, but Cavill is officially out. This marks another confusing moment in the history of Warner Bros.' DCEU/DCU, but hopefully, it should also be one of the last. Gunn attempted to give precise clarity to the DCU moving forward in of its projects, canonicity, focus on storytelling, and an attempt to start fresh. Cavill appears to have been an unfortunate casualty in this transition, but with Gunn's statement, it seems like his future in the role was never a sure thing.
There Was No Superman Contract To Fire Henry Cavill From
In a special DC Studios event that Screen Rant attended, James Gunn confirmed that Henry Cavill was not fired as there was no contract in place. The fact is, while many fans Cavill as Superman and his tenure in the role was marked by a lot of uncertainty, that same uncertainty extended to Cavill himself. Despite a prominent position in the DCEU as the leader of the Justice League, he was not contracted to future appearances.
Contracts are a large part of the industry and in the case of the MCU, they have caused significant issues because actors and studios are secured in their roles and involvement by the documentation. In Cavill's case, the exact opposite appears to be the case. Issues around the casting of actors as X-Men, the creating of a solo Hulk Project, and the ability to use and integrate Spider-Man have all come up against hurdles due to preexisting contracts with Fox, Universal, and Sony respectively.
Why Was Cavill's Return Announced When He Left So Quickly?
As mentioned above, Henry Cavill appeared briefly in Black Adam, alongside Dwayne Johnson's titular character. This brief encounter was further emphasized by a tremendous media push that Johnson himself appeared to be the driving force behind as he attempted to build excitement for a Superman vs. Black Adam showdown in the DCEU, and the dawn of a new age. Cavill then made a public statement via his personal Instagram on October 24th, 2022, stating, "A very small taste of what’s to come, my friends. The dawn of hope renewed. Thank you for your patience, it will be rewarded."
Unfortunately, the announcement was overshadowed when less than two months later on December 15th, 2022, he confirmed he would no longer be continuing forward as Superman. Why the public announcement of his return was approved so soon before his exit is unclear, but it appears that in the transition of control at Warner Bros. and DC Studios, things were not clearly communicated, and the outgoing executives made commitments they could not keep. Whether pressure from the public and the media push of Johnson was also a factor is unclear, but communication breakdown appears to be a key factor in these conflicting announcements being made within the short timeframe.
Why Henry Cavill Won't Be The DC Universe's Superman
Gunn's vision for the future of the DCU does include a Superman story, and it appears to be central to the larger plan. Superman: Legacy was announced, along with a theatrical release date for July 11th, 2025, as the first official installment of the DCU proper. While it is not tipped to be an origin story, it will be returning to a less jaded and more hopeful Superman than the one that existed in the DCEU. Because of this, it is important to have a fresh face that won't be tied to the darker history of Cavill's Superman.
The story will focus on hope and kindness in a world where those things aren't viewed as important, and it's very likely that a younger actor will be assuming the role. Cavill did appear to have a lighter mood with his Superman at the end of Black Adam, but from the Man of Steel onward, his version was decidedly darker than many previous interpretations. Ultimately, this difference in vision for the character and how he was portrayed appears to be too wide a divide for Gunn to comfortably cross over.
Could Henry Cavill Ever Return As Superman?
With a more focused and intentional direction going forward, the DCU seems to be establishing itself as a more prepared and considered comic book universe than what came before. It is likely that they will spend time focusing on building the foundations of their universe and expanding the stories and characters throughout its first chapter, "Gods and Monsters." So it is unlikely that previous iterations of the characters will appear for the foreseeable future to avoid further confusion. However, comic books and their associated universes are notorious for having multiple versions of their characters and bringing these iterations together in multiversal events.
The MCU is currently well into its Multiverse saga featuring variants of heroes like Doctor Strange, Spider-Man and antiheroes like Loki. DC's Arrowverse has long been known for its multiversal crossovers and the appearance of characters from alternate Earths. Even DC films like The Flash are dealing with multiple versions of Flash and Batman, and Gunn believes this leads well into the DC Universe that he is building. With so much rich history of these events and variants, it is entirely possible that Henry Cavill may don the Superman costume again, one day in the future.
