Movie News Net

New ‘Superman’ Movie is Being Written by James Gunn; Role Will Be Recast, But Henry Cavill Remains in Touch With DC Studios

by · December 15, 2022

Henry Cavill as Superman

A new Superman movie is in the pipeline, focused on the character’s early career, and it will be written by James Gunn for an unknown director. Unfortunately, Henry Cavill will not be playing the character in this movie, although he remains in contact with James Gunn in the event of possible appearances in future projects.

 

Cavill announced on Instagram that while the plan was for him to appear in multiple movies as Superman at DC Films, the reorganization of the company into DC Studios has changed the hierarchy of power, and thus he is not set to play the character going forward. Despite the change in plans, Cavill remained gracious for the opportunity to play the character and issued a statement discussing matters:

 

 

View this post on Instagram

 

A post shared by Henry Cavill (@henrycavill)

 

The reason for this change is that the new movie will tell a story with a younger iteration of Superman, not focused on the origin of the character, but instead putting emphasis on his early years as a superhero. There’s at least a silver lining in that, according to James Gunn: he and Henry Cavill will remain in contact for future opportunities, indicating that while this chapter on the DC Universe is done, perhaps new chances may present themselves down the road.

 

 

 

Variety indicates that, for now, this potential new role for Henry Cavill is being discussed by himself and DC Studios co-CEOs James Gunn and Peter Safran, who are hard at work trying to find a new character for him to play, rather than for an alternate Superman. At least not until Henry Cavill, Brandon Routh, and Tyler Hoechlin team up with the new Superman actor to do Superman: No Way Home… We think. In the short run, it seems like this new Superman might just call for a new Jor-El that Cavill could play.

 

As far as the plans for the new Superman project, all we know is that James Gunn is handling the screenplay, which he’s been at work on for a while, and while the film will be set early into Clark Kent’s double life as a superhero and a reporter (with some indications that the people at The Daily Planet will be put into focus), the film is not being treated as another origin story. The search for a director is ongoing, although some believe that Gunn could direct the movie if needed.

 

 

Elsewhere in the DC news cycle, it’s been indicated by The Hollywood Reporter that Ben Affleck joined the likes of James Mangold and Andy Muschietti as potential future DC Studios directors. Gunn has confirmed this and is indicating that it’s a matter of finding the right project for Affleck to direct, as it seems unlikely that he’ll be playing Batman in the DC Universe going forward.

 

 

As it stands, the first official updates on the new DC Studios slate are expected to come this January. The current slate of DC Studios projects that are moving forward include Shazam! Fury of the Gods, The Flash, Blue Beetle, and Aquaman and the Lost Kingdom, although with the chance of a full-scale reboot being very likely, it remains to be seen what impact these projects might have on the future slate. The Flash is functionally going to reboot the universe, and afterwards, it seems like Blue Beetle is going to safely be part of the new continuity. Producer Peter Safran has involvement with all of these projects except The Flash; although it’s been indicated that Jason Momoa could be playing Lobo going forward, and that the role of Aquaman could be recast, it seems likely that the Shazam! franchise could be relatively unaffected by the new changes that are being made. We’ll just have to wait and see.

 

Also seemingly unaffected is the Ta-Nehisi Coates-written, J.J. Abrams-produced film focusing on a different take on Superman, reinterpreting the character as an African-American man in a story told over several decades of American history. Said project is a one-off and will not have an impact on the main franchise.

 

Tags: