Henry Cavill's Superman Isn't Returning After All, But James Gunn Has New Plans For The Man Of Steel

A little over a month-and-a-half ago, DC Extended Universe fans got some exciting news about Superman: Henry Cavill confirmed he was coming back to the role. That, however, was before the big regime change at DC Studios that now sees James Gunn and Peter Safran running things. Today, those same DCEU fans are likely to be upset, as it has been revealed that while there is a new movie about the Man of Steel now in the works, it won't be Cavill playing the hero.

Henry Cavill himself confirmed this latest news on his personal Instagram page. The actor shared a couple of paragraphs of white text on a black background, and in the statement he confirms that his time wearing the red and blue costume on the big screen has come to an end:

This was paired with a posting on Twitter by James Gunn, who has continued to be very active on social media since landing the job co-running DC Studios. In a Tweet thread, he confirms that he is presently developing a new Superman movie based on a screenplay that he is personally writing and that will focus on the character at an earlier part in the character's life. As a result of this creative decision, the role is being recast and a new actor will be hired to play Clark Kent. You can read his Tweets combined as a statement below:

It's in a follow-up Tweet that he confirms he is penning the screenplay for the untitled Superman movie, posting, "I am writing (and have been for a while). We don’t know who is directing yet."

This will certainly be a big blow to the DCEU fans who have desperately attempting to keep the established canon alive, but at the very least Henry Cavill fans can be intrigued by that last part of James Gunn's statement. It's not an unusual thing in modern movies to see actors play multiple comic book characters in different canons, and it would be fascinating to see what other character Cavill might play in the reshaped big screen franchise.

Clearly this is a move that is going to have a domino effect on the future of DC Comics movies, and the only question is in regards to what will remain standing at the end of the proposed franchise changes. Given how hard Dwayne Johnson pressed to get Henry Cavill back for the Black Adam end credits scene, the future of Black Adam vs. Superman seems doomed. It's additionally hard not to wonder what will happen with Gal Gadot after Patty Jenkins' departure from Wonder Woman 3, and  we'll probably have to wait until after next year's Blue Beetle, Flash, Shazam and Aquaman movies to learn about where things stand with those characters.

Of course, fans of Superman around the world can also start getting excited by the fact that a brand new movie about the character is finally in the works nearly a full decade after his last solo blockbuster. Stay tuned here on CinemaBlend for more updates about the project in the coming weeks, months, and years, as we'll be very excited to learn about when the movie is coming out, who will be directing it, and who will be the next actor tapped to wear the hero's iconic red boots.