DC Officially Replacing Henry Cavill as Superman

James Gunn has confirmed DC Studios' plans for Superman and who won't be returning.

Leading up to the release of Black Adam, and immediately following the film's debut, Henry Cavill's Superman comeback was all everyone was talking about. 

Days after Cavill confirmed his return on social media, Warner Bros. announced James Gunn and Peter Safran as co-CEOs of the newly branded DC Studios, where they would map out the future of the DC Universe. 

In the wake of these two bombshells, the question fans have been asking is whether Cavill's future was still guaranteed.

And now, it seems that question has been answered.

DC Studios to Recast Superman

In a thread on Twitter, James Gunn confirmed that Superman is part of his and Peter Safran's upcoming DC slate. However, their Man of Steel will not be played by Henry Cavill:

"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.

While it's clear that Cavill won't be reprising his role in this Superman film, that doesn't necessarily mean he's done with DC. 

Gunn went on to share that he and Safran met with Cavill and discussed "exciting possibilities to work together:"

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."

As for James Gunn, he's not only overseeing this Superman film; he's writing it. And, according to him, he has "been for a while:"

"I am writing (and have been for a while). We don’t know who is directing yet."

As for the details of Gunn's Superman story, Variety reported that the script will focus on the hero's life as a cub reporter in Metropolis where he will meet key characters like Lois Lane. 

Gunn also teased how the new DCU's incarnation of the Man of Steel would differ from Cavill's version.

Why Cavill's Comeback Was Cut Short 

Since Cavill only just appeared in Black Adam and officially confirmed his return in late October, this news is jarring but not entirely surprising. 

Recent reports suggested that Cavill's Man of Steel 2 had stalled at Warner Bros. and that the studio was considering recasting the entire Justice League, Cavill's Superman included. 

Also, once Gunn and Safran were tapped for their roles, many suspected they would want to restart the DCU with a clean slate. 

After all, Cavill's Superman is a product of Zack Snyder's Snyderverse; and while that doesn't mean he couldn't have been incorporated into the new DCU, addressing the character's history would have been a challenge and arguably not a reboot at all. 

Just how fans - and Black Adam's own Dwayne Johnson who fought for Cavill's comeback - will react to this decision remains to be seen. Cavill himself has since responded to the news, expressing his disappointment but also voicing his support for the next actor that takes on the role.

But for now, Cavill's gone, and James Gunn's take on the Son of Krypton is well underway.