As David Corenswet prepares to debut as Superman in James Gunn’s upcoming film, fans continue to wonder about Henry Cavill’s future in the DC Universe (DCU). According to Gunn, while Cavill will no longer play the Man of Steel, the door remains open for him to return in a different role.
In a recent interview on the Happy Sad Confused podcast, Gunn spoke about the difficult moment when he and DC Studios co-chair Peter Safran had to tell Cavill he would not be continuing as Superman.
“It’s terrible,” Gunn said. “The day we were figuring out whether we would even take the job at DC Studios, suddenly it was announced that Henry was back. And I was like, ‘What is going on? We know what the plan is—we’re coming in to do Superman.’ It was really unfair to him and a total bummer.”
Gunn explained that before he and Safran officially joined DC Studios in 2022, the franchise was in a period of confusion, with different groups pushing their own ideas. This led to the public announcement that Cavill would return as Superman—an announcement that, according to Gunn, was never actually part of Warner Bros. Discovery CEO David Zaslav’s plan.
When Gunn and Safran finally met with Cavill to break the news, they were impressed by his professionalism.
“He was an absolute gentleman and a great guy about it,” Gunn said. “He asked for one thing—that he be the one to announce it himself, rather than it coming from us. And I thought, ‘That’s a class act.’”
Despite the casting change, Gunn said he would like to work with Cavill in the new DCU.
“I talked to him about it on that day. I would love to put Henry in something,” Gunn revealed.
The first film in Gunn and Safran’s new DC Universe is Superman, which will launch the “Gods and Monsters” phase of the franchise.
