According to the most recent batch of rumors, Henry Cavill is no longer under contract as the DCEU’s Superman, despite reports making the rounds last summer that he’d inked an extension. Regardless of his current status, three big screen appearances in ten and a half years is a very poor return given the actor’s clear love for the character and desire to leave a much bigger impact than the one he was afforded the chance to make.
Warner Bros. and DC Films are still struggling to come up with a unified direction for the upcoming slate of comic book adaptations, leaving continuity in tatters once again. For example, James Gunn’s The Suicide Squad doesn’t reference its predecessor despite several returning faces, the boardroom keep reiterating the SnyderVerse is no longer a concern despite J.K. Simmons’ potential return in HBO Max’s Batgirl tying it directly to the Justice League era, while Shazam! Fury of the Gods is a sequel to a blockbuster set in a universe where Cavill is the Man of Steel.
It’s a clusterf*ck to put it lightly, and we’re now hearing from our sources – the same ones who told us Ben Affleck would be returning as Batman in The Flash long before it was confirmed – that several high-level people at Warner Bros. are purportedly keen on the idea of drawing a line under The Witcher star’s tenure as the Man of Steel for good.
J.J. Abrams and Ta-Nehisi Coates are rebooting Superman for the big screen, with Michael B. Jordan producing a Val-Zod project for streaming, so perhaps the top brass feel as though three Kryptonian superheroes is one too many, four if you include Sasha Calle’s Supergirl. One thing you can bank on, though, is that the fans will let it be known in no uncertain terms that they’ll never give up on the Cavill comeback.
