Henry Cavill’s Superman Exit Was Even Messier Than We Originally Thought, James Gunn Reveals
New details have come out about Henry Cavill’s exit as Superman, and it turns out the situation was messier than most people thought.
Cavill hadn’t been in any DC movies since 2017’s Justice League until he showed up briefly in 2022’s Black Adam. That cameo was supposed to kick off a fresh chapter for his Superman in the DCEU.
But things quickly changed. Even though Cavill’s return was announced and he said he was coming back for more, new DC Studios co-CEOs James Gunn and Peter Safran had different plans. When Henry Cavill was announcing his return, Gunn and Safran already had a deal with David Zaslav signed.
James Gunn spoke about all this on the Happy Sad Confused podcast. He said he already had his Superman movie planned before Cavill’s return was announced. Gunn was shocked that Cavill’s comeback was made public the same day he and Safran officially took over DC Studios. He knew their plans for Superman would clash with Cavill’s return.
Gunn described the situation as unfair to Cavill and a real disappointment. He explained, “It’s terrible… We were dealing with trying to figure out if we could take the job at DC Studios, and we’re talking to [Warner Bros. Discovery CEO] David Zaslav and all the legal people there and figuring out what our deals would be. And the day our deal closed, all the sudden, they were announcing that Henry was back, and I’m like, ‘What’s going on? We know what the plan is. The plan was to come in and do Superman.’ It was really unfair to him and was a total bummer.”
Gunn also mentioned that many people tried to push their own projects during the leadership change at DC, but that wasn’t part of CEO David Zaslav’s vision. Gunn and Safran decided to sit down with Cavill to explain the situation. Cavill was very professional and kind about it, and he asked that he be the one to reveal his future plans, not the studio.
When asked if Cavill could return to the DC Universe in a different role, Gunn said, “No. As another character? Absolutely not. I talked to him about it on that day. Yeah, I would love to put Henry in something.”
From Gunn’s interview, it looks like Warner Bros. Discovery CEO David Zaslav never really wanted Cavill back as Superman after Black Adam. So, while fans and Cavill hoped for more appearances, that was never going to happen.
Gunn’s comments also hint that Cavill could still be part of DC, just not as Superman. Similar to how Jason Momoa, who played Aquaman, is now set to play Lobo in the upcoming 2026 film Supergirl, Cavill might take on a new character in the DC Universe. Gunn says he already talked to Cavill about it, and the door is open.
Gunn also seemed to be referring to another big story behind the scenes involving Dwayne “The Rock” Johnson. Reports say The Rock and his manager, Dany Garcia, tried to take control of DC Studios. They reportedly wanted to run the studio with their company, Seven Bucks, and replace the then-leader Walter Hamada. According to a report by The Wrap, The Rock and Garcia met with David Zaslav in 2022 to discuss this, as well as bringing Superman back to Black Adam.
However, someone close to Seven Bucks denied they were trying to push Garcia to replace Hamada. In the end, after Gunn and Safran took charge, The Rock and Seven Bucks were pushed out of DC, and Cavill ended up firing Garcia as his manager.
This inside look was shared by James Gunn during the podcast, revealing just how complicated and tough the changes at DC have been, especially for Henry Cavill’s Superman.
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