Shazam: Fury Of The Gods will not feature Henry Cavill reprising his role as Superman, despite rampant rumors to the contrary. The sequel to the hit 2019 film Shazam!, Fury Of The Gods will further the adventures of Billy Batson and his adoptive family, imbued with the magical powers of the wizard Shazam. The film was a critical success and held its own at the box office, raising speculation about what the sequel may hold.
Shazam takes place in the DC Extended Universe and even featured a faceless cameo by Superman in its final scene. Director David F. Sandberg confirmed Cavill was originally supposed to shoot that cameo but bowed out before the film was completed. A bevy of recent rumors has suggested the Man of Steel might make an appearance in the Shazam! sequel, which is currently due to be released in 2023.
But according to Variety, Cavill will not be returning to the role for Shazam 2, and it's still an open question if the actor will return to the cape and tights at all in the future. Cavill first took on the role in 2013's Man Of Steel, the first entry in the DCEU. He reprised the role in Zack Snyder's polarizing Batman V Superman: Dawn Of Justice and Joss Whedon's ill-fated cut of Justice League.
But the future of Superman on the big screen remains uncertain. Cavill's Superman was installed several regimes ago, with the more recent DC Films brass gravitating toward more earnest, hopeful iterations of their main heroes; Cavill's moody, morally complex Superman now seems wholly out of step with what the studio is trying to do with its comic book properties.
That's not to say we've seen the last of Cavill in the role, however. He will of course appear in Snyder's 4-hour cut of Justice League coming later this year to HBO Max, alongside Ben Affleck's Batman. Affleck's future with the DCEU also seems to be winding down, as the actor will reportedly make one last appearance as the Dark Knight in The Flash before likely leaving the role behind. It's not as cut and dry with Cavill, who still claims to be enthusiastic about making more Superman films, yet at the same time, he may understandably have little interest in small time cameos when the studio isn't even sure the next Superman film will feature him in the role. Cavill's Superman has a lot of fans who would likely be thrilled over even a cameo these days, but it wasn't meant to be for Shazam: Fury Of The Gods.
Source: Variety