Imagine spending ten years in a job, constantly asking your boss for a promotion and always being ignored, only for them to turn around and hire someone else to do almost the exact same job that you already do, without even consulting you about it. That’s pretty much the position Henry Cavill finds himself in after it was announced J.J. Abrams will be rebooting Superman for Warner Bros.
Admittedly, there’s been no official confirmation that the DCEU’s canonical Kryptonian isn’t going to play the title role, but it’s definitely looking that way, with the majority of reports hinting that Bad Robot’s Superman will cast a black actor as the comic book icon. Cavill is still very much under contract with Warner Bros. for now, but Abrams’ reboot looks to be the final nail in the coffin for any hopes of a direct Man of Steel sequel.
The Witcher star was first announced as the Big Blue Boy Scout in January 2011, but that wasn’t even his first time flirting with the character. Cavill screen tested in full costume back in 2004 for the abandoned Superman: Flyby, which was set to be directed by McG. And in a twist of fate that gets more painfully cruel and ironic with each passing day, the Flyby script was written by J.J. Abrams.
Now, insider Daniel Richtman is reporting that Cavill is seriously pissed off by Warner Bros.’ decision to reboot Superman without his involvement, and at this stage all we can say is, no sh*t. Fans have always wanted to see a Man of Steel sequel despite the studio’s ambivalence, and Abrams’ stock is hardly at an all-time high among pop culture enthusiasts after Star Wars: The Rise of Skywalker, so the reactions to his Superman movie have been tepid so far, to say the least.
