Up, up and away (Possibly)! Further updates at the end of the article…
Henry Cavill has apparently departed (not official) from the DC Extended Universe, or World of DC, according to the Hollywood Reporter.
The news comes after negotiations for Henry Cavill to appear as a cameo in the upcoming ‘Shazam!’ movie, reportedly broke down due to scheduling issues. This is a huge loss for Warner Bros as many fans considered Cavill’s Superman to be the best onscreen portrayal, as well as a highlight of the DCEU movie series.
Cavill has appeared in 3 movies as Superman; Man of Steel (2013), Batman V Superman: Dawn of Justice (2016) and Justice League.
A source from within the studio reportedly told The Hollywood Reporter, “Superman is like James Bond, and after a certain run you have to look at new actors.” They also stated that Warner Bros would instead shift their focus on the upcoming Supergirl movie, with no immediate plans for a new Superman or Man of Steel movie.
Cavill will appear next in Netflix’s The Witcher, as main character Geralt of Rivia. This now opens his schedule to focus on this series and possibly others in the near future.
There are also unconfirmed reports that Ben Affleck isn’t expected to return to the role of Batman, to usher in a younger version of the character in Matt Reeves’ The Batman trilogy. However, this may not entirely be true, as Affleck has been rumoured to leave the role multiple times in the past, to which those rumours have been shown to be incorrect.
A Hollywood Reporter source hinted at a big “reset” on the direction DC films had been heading from Warner Bros, while another stated, “There’s a recognition that some parts of the previous movies didn’t work.” The idea of this reset works in accordance with certain comments made by John Stankey, the CEO of WarnerMedia during an investor call earlier in the month, in which he stated, “Some of our franchises, in particular DC, we all think we can do better.”
There hasn’t been any official statements made to confirm these reports, but it’s looking likely that we won’t be seeing Cavill’s Superman make an appearance any time soon.
December 21st sees the release of the next instalment of the DCEU, Aquaman, starring Jason Momoa.
Update: No confirmation has yet been made on the situation, with many conflicting reports stating that there is no bad blood between Warner Bros and Cavill. Cavill posted a cryptic video on both Facebook and Instagram, leading to much speculation about whether he has actually left the role or not. TMZ recently posted an article, declaring the situation between the studio and actor to be fake, and many have questioned whether this could be a publicity stunt or just a false leak.
2nd Update: Henry Cavill’s manager has since commented on the matter, implying that Cavill is still in the role and that WB will soon be making a statement on the matter.
We will release an updated article when the news has been confirmed or denied.
3rd Update: It has been reported that Warner Bros have no plans to create more Superman movies anytime soon, which may be why this news has been spreading. Cavill may not have necessarily left the role, but don’t expect any Superman appearances anytime soon.
By Jimmy Ioannou
Images provided by Warner Bros/DC Comics
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