With a few years gone since he last donned the cape, new reports suggest that Henry Cavill Superman replacement talks happened earlier than some expected. Cavill's time in the DC Extended Universe has been a rollercoaster of difficulties, having received polarized reviews in both Man of Steel and Batman v Superman: Dawn of Justice for Zack Snyder's darker approach to adapting the DC Comics hero. The troubled development and production of Justice League further dampened his time in the part, with reshoots on the superhero team-up movie coming while Cavill was in the midst of production on Mission: Impossible — Fallout and had grown out a mustache, for which he was contractually required by Paramount Pictures to keep.
Warner Bros. and reshoot helmer Joss Whedon would forge ahead with Cavill's Superman in Justice League's reshoots by digitally removing his mustache and driving him towards a more hopeful portrayal in line with Christopher Reeve's time in the role, which further scored mixed-to-negative reviews. With the studio electing to move away from interconnected storytelling, Cavill's future as Superman in the DCEU has been left largely unknown, namely as the star has gone on to lead Netflix's The Witcher series and starring in the Enola Holmes movies as Millie Bobby Brown's older brother Sherlock. Despite this, it appears Cavill's Superman tenure nearly came to a close earlier than planned.
A recent report from Rolling Stone broke down the nature of the Release the Snyder Cut movement and the timeline of the DCEU's early development struggles. Sources close to the studio revealed that talks to replace Henry Cavill's Superman happened much earlier than previously reported, with WB apparently eyeing the star's exit in 2017 after Justice League's release. The report indicates that the studio was also looking to replace Ben Affleck as Batman for the franchise following the team-up film.
Reports of Cavill being replaced as Superman from the DCEU first surfaced in late 2018 as talks broke down between the actor and WB over his future in the franchise, namely over scheduling conflicts on future projects and their lack of interest in producing another Superman movie. Despite this, the time since has seen Cavill remain optimistic about coming back as Superman in the franchise, feeling that he isn't done with the role and teasing ideas of what he wants next for the character. Rumors have also swirled of his secretly inking a deal to return as Superman and will make a cameo in the upcoming film The Flash.
Despite these rumors, Cavill's Superman tenure in the DCEU continues to remain a mystery to the public. Warner Bros. is currently developing a Black Superman movie from Ta-Nehisi Coates and J.J Abrams, reportedly set outside of the DCEU, which has received support from Cavill, while also reportedly looking to softly reboot the entire franchise with the multiverse-hopping The Flash, which is expected to act as the swan song for Ben Affleck's Batman and the introduction of Keaton's Batman in his place moving forward. While audiences await The Flash's 2023 release, they can revisit Cavill's Superman tenure streaming on HBO Max now.
Source: Rolling Stone
