It looks like Henry Cavill left Netflix’s ‘The Witcher’ franchise for no reason after all, as he confirmed that he will no longer portray the Man of Steel in James Gunn’s vision for the DC Cinematic Universe.
Cavill took to Instagram to share that after having met with both James Gunn and Peter Safran, the recently appointed co-chairs and co-CEOs of DC Studios under Warner Bros., he had been told that they would be moving on from his interpretation of the iconic character going forward.
He shared, “It’s sad news, everyone. I will, after all, not be returning as Superman. After being told by the studio to announce my return back in October, prior to their hire, this news isn’t the easiest, but that’s life,” Cavill wrote. “I respect that James and Peter have a universe to build. I wish them and all involved with the new universe the best of luck, and the happiest of fortunes.”
“For those who have been by my side through the years…we can mourn for a bit, but then we must remember…Superman is still around. Everything he stands for still exists, and the examples he sets for us are still there! My turn to wear the cape has passed, but what Superman stands for never will. It’s been a fun ride with you all, onwards and upwards,” he added.
This comes as a shock following his cameo appearance on the post-credit scene of ‘Black Adam’, teasing his return, a possible future brawl with Dwyane ‘The Rock’ Johnson’s character, and the fresh revival of the DC Cinematic Universe. It seems like there really is a revival going on, it just so happens that Cavill’s Superman is unfortunately not part of it.
DC Studios co-head James Gunn took to Twitter to share the recent developments. He shared, “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”. He adds, “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”.
It’s not the end for him however as it seems they have other plans for Cavill. Gunn also shared “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”.