It has long been unclear what would happen to the Superman movie franchise. The ability to watch Henry Cavill’s original Superman scenes in Zack Snyder’s Justice League was made available to both HBO Max subscribers and home media fans, but the truth is that it’s been about five years since he last played the Man of Steel. Will he therefore return as Superman, or not? According to a recent source, Warner Bros. Pictures will need to resolve this issue quickly.
Following its merger with Discovery, Warner Bros. underwent a significant reorganisation. Toby Emmerich, the studio’s Motion Picture Group Chair, was replaced by the duo of Michael De Luca and Pamela Abdy. David Zaslav, CEO of Warner Bros. Discovery, is seeking a someone to essentially fill Kevin Feige’s “guru” position for the Marvel Cinematic Universe on the DC Films side of things. Regardless matter who it is, one of the issues they’ll have is deciding what to do with Superman. Variety reports that Henry Cavill is “ageing out of the character,” but at the same time, WB hasn’t completed plans for the Ta-Nehisi Coates and J.J. Abrams-directed Superman reboot.
Superman’s film future is currently uncertain, which is a far cry from the time when Henry Cavill’s portrayal of the character launched the DCEU with Man of Steel. Cavill eventually had no other solo films in this series; he co-starred with Ben Affleck in Batman v Superman: Dawn of Justice and then joined the cast of the Justice League. Although Cavill has indicated interest in producing Man of Steel 2, this DC film has only been stuck in development limbo. Cavill is apparently close to becoming too old to continue playing Superman, thus WB needs to decide soon if they want to keep him in the role or recast it.
There is still a significant hurdle to get over: the actor’s schedule. Assuming Warner Bros. is interested in having Henry Cavill star in Man of Steel 2, or even appear in other DC films like what was suggested a few years ago. It would be much more difficult to find time for Cavill to don the cape now than it was when he was first hired as the DCEU’s Superman because he is now staying busy portraying Gerald of Rivia in The Witcher and appearing in films like Argylle and Enola Holmes (and its sequel). Even still, it’s not difficult to find supporters who are eager for Cavill’s Superman to make another appearance, particularly if he’s once again the star of the show.
The reboot strategy, on the other hand, has the highest chance of succeeding thanks to Ta-Nehsisi Coates’ Superman. It’s evident that there isn’t a problem with releasing DC films that don’t take place in the DCEU, as shown by Joker and The Batman, so if things don’t work out with Henry Cavill, it’d be simple enough to once again start with a blank Superman slate. Even then, we’ve seen how Robert Pattinson’s Batman is getting ready to start another adventure in his own realm while Michael Keaton is taking over as the new Batman in the DCEU after The Flash. Therefore, even if Coates’ Superman movie, which is situated in a different part of the DC world, goes through, theoretically nothing would stop Cavill from potentially resuming as Superman in the DC Extended Universe.
Whatever the final choice, it’s clear that Warner Bros. needs to make it as soon as possible. CinemaBlend will let you know as soon as that decision is made public. For the time being, there are different upcoming DC movies to keep an eye on in the near future.
