HBO Max is quickly becoming the de facto home of all things DCEU. There’s the Snyder Cut of Justice League, the more than likely release of the Ayer Cut of Suicide Squad, and even the J.J. Abrams-helmed Justice League Dark live-action series. But that’s not the only project Abrams is attached to. His contract with Warner Brothers might include an as yet unannounced Superman movie, which could be either a sequel or a reboot at this point.
With all the buzz surrounding the re-release of Justice League, it seems that the original rulebook was thrown out and future plans are being rewritten. Originally the entire cinematic roster seemed to be getting a hard reboot, with the Abrams movie, Matt Reeves’ The Batman, and James Gunn’s The Suicide Squad. But now there seems to be this course-correction of sorts, with talk of Henry Cavill reprising his role as Superman in the DC universe and by extension, the possibility of him playing the lead in Abrams’ Man of Steel sequel.
According to Bounding Into Comics:
Sources told YouTuber John Campea [that] Abrams is indeed making a Superman movie and it will include Cavill – or, at least, that is within the realm of possibility
Of course, these tentative steps forward might rely on the performance of 2021’s Justice League, which would then pave the way for a Justice League 2 and Man of Steel 2. We’ve already seen the character of Superman cross over into Shazam!, so at some point the decision was definitely made to create a shared universe. And with DC locking in big established actors like Dwayne Johnson, Jared Leto and Zachary Levi, the idea of not giving them the chance to interact sounds like a major missed opportunity.
While speaking in a recent interview, Damon Lindelof, who worked with Abrams on Lost, certainly made it sound like the filmmaker always had plans to one day direct a movie featuring the Last Son of Kyrpton, saying:
“But it’s interesting that you mentioned J.J. because long before I worked with him on Lost, J.J. actually wrote a Superman script that never got made for a variety of reasons mostly of which I think is like that Wolfgang Petersen was trying to make a Superman Versus Batman movie,” the writer adds. “They were also trying to do JLA. This was all before Chris Nolan came in and basically took over Batman, et cetera, but it all kind of just got lost in the wash. He’s had a long-term obsession with Superman. I guess what I would say is I would love to see a J.J. Superman movie, but I don’t have a take on the character that would be better than that.”
Of course, this should be taken with a grain of salt until Warner Brothers or Abrams officially announce the next Superman movie. But Cavill’s return also seems highly likely, especially if his popularity among fans is being considered.
