The short and long-term future of Superman in live-action remains shrouded in mystery, even more so after the Discovery merger, which has already led to widespread reports that new CEO David Zaslav isn’t best pleased with DC Films continuing to do very little with a potentially lucrative ream of comic book properties.
As things stand, Henry Cavill remains the DCEU’s canonical Superman, even though he’s only made three appearances as the Big Blue Boy Scout since first being announced for the role in January 2011, while he hasn’t even thrown on the costume since Joss Whedon’s Justice League reshoots ended in the summer of 2017.
J.J. Abrams and Ta-Nehisi Coates are developing a fresh take on the Kryptonian icon, while Michael B. Jordan’s Outlier Society are additionally working on an episodic project for HBO Max that’s set to focus on popular variant Val-Zod. Of course, Zaslav could scrap them both if he wants to, but Jordan remains a popular contender to suit up as Superman, as he has been for years.
In fact, online gambling site Bovada has been running the odds and crunching the numbers, with the Black Panther and Creed star currently listed as the odds-on favorite to play the part in the event Cavill is shown the door. Just behind is Matt Bomer, who has of course inhabited Clark Kent in the past by voicing the character in the animated Superman: Unbound.
These are entirely speculative results, but it doesn’t make it any less interesting that the two top contenders among those willing to place money on it are two names who’ve been regularly linked to Superman in the past, even if nobody’s ready for the Cavill era to end just yet.
