SHOWBIZ BEAT MEDIA

After almost 2 months from the day Henry Cavill announced that he will be returning for the Superman franchise via Instagram, he had to revise his statement and break the sad news to fans, that we won’t back as the Man of Steel.

Photo from Warner Bros

This is a major blow considering there’s also a finality regarding him being replaced as Geralt of Rivia in The Witcher, the Netflix series which revived his career and gave him $1 million per episode.

A hefty contributing factor is the changing of the guard, with director James Gunn and Peter Safran taking charge of the DC film universe, under new Warner Bros. Discovery CEO David Zaslav. There has been some implication that the trio wants a fresh start, which resulted in Cavill being ousted from the new Superman movie.

However, Gunn clarified that moving forward, he still wants to work with Cavill. “In the initial stages, our story will be focusing on an earlier part of Superman’s life, so the character will not be played by Henry Cavill,” tweeted the director.

He was able to meet with Henry instead regarding future possibilities that will be exciting for the DC film universe. This means Cavill is now a free agent, and fans of other big film franchises have put forward propositions regarding future roles.

Some want Cavill to take part in the Marvel Cinematic Universe (MCU), because he already has experience is playing superheroes, and has the right physique. Others actually want him to vie for the role of the new James Bond, because as of writing there are preferred choices but no definitive casting yet. 

There is speculation though that Cavill himself may want a fresh start, and would keep his distance from franchise films. Whatever his final decision is, fans are really vocal about their displeasure, even asking Gunn to be ejected from the director’s chair. #FireJamesGunn trended on Twitter as well as #BringBackZackSnyder.

In ‘The Rock’-starrer ‘Black Adam’, Superman meets him in a very short end screen where he says: “Black Adam. We should talk.” In effect, this paves the way for Henry Cavill to appear as Superman in future ‘Black Adam’ films.

Because of these hashtags, new discussions arose regarding the new stewardship of the DC film universe actually being a liability, which in turn led someone to create a petition at Change.org addressed to David Zaslav, which urges him to get Cavill back and remove Gunn instead from the project. Their argument stems from the fact that Cavill is a movie star who can bring home more revenue for the company rather than Gunn because he’s already established as a DC lead. As of writing, 3,000 people have already signed the petition.

Moving forward, the most probable future of Cavill will most likely still be a with a film franchise, this time on a streaming platform. A few days after Cavill confirmed that he won’t be back as Superman, UK Firm Games Workshop, the studio behind the hit game Warhammer 40,000, announced that British actor is going to star in the movie and TV show based on the game. He will also be its executive producer. “I have loved Warhammer since I was a boy, making this moment truly special for me. The opportunity to shepherd this cinematic universe from its inception is quite the honour and the responsibility,” said Cavill in a statement last Friday, December 16.

Even though the deal with Amazon has yet to be signed and seal, the two companies have already “reached an agreement in principle”. A 23-second video showing a Warhammer insignia was posted less than 24 hours by Cavill on his official Facebook account.

*Cover Photo/Thumbnail Photo from Henry Cavill’s Official Facebook page