Several reports have said that Henry Cavill is finished playing Superman, although nobody seems ready to commit to that for certain…
Henry Cavill’s days as the Man of Steel may be finished…or maybe not.
On Wednesday a report surfaced from the Hollywood Reporter that stated Cavill was done playing Superman after recent negotiations for a cameo appearance in the upcoming ‘Shazam’ movie broke down over scheduling conflicts that would stop the actor from shooting the role.
Cavill has just recently booked a leading role in the limited series for the Netflix adaptation of ‘The Witcher’, which is probably going to tie him up for several months.
In addition to that, several reports have stated that Warner Bros. is shifting directions with their DC Universe slate of films after several considerable setbacks including last year’s ‘Justice League’ movie, which ended up dovetailing at the box office after critics and audiences panned the film.
Cavill played the role of Superman in three films — ‘Man of Steel’, ‘Batman V. Superman: Dawn of Justice’ and ‘Justice League’ — and while his performance was never criticized, none of those movies were exactly critical hits, especially when compared to the laundry list of well reviewed Marvel movies out there.
No one involved with Cavill playing Superman was willing to speak on the record about his future in the role, although Warner Bros. did put out a statement that more or less confirmed that there are no plans currently for any more featured films with the Man of Steel.
“We have a great relationship and great respect for Henry Cavill that continues to remain unchanged. Additionally we have made no current decisions regarding any upcoming Superman films,” the Warner Bros. statement read.
There had been talk for quite some time that Warner Bros. was considering a ‘Man of Steel 2’ starring Cavill but that never ended up coming together.
Lately the studio has started looking ahead at a whole new DC film universe including a ‘Supergirl’ movie as well as a ‘Batman’ film directed by Matt Reeves that is expected to feature a younger version of the Caped Crusader with rumors still circulating that Ben Affleck will not return to his role as the Dark Night either.
Warner Bros. and DC have tried to figure out a formula that works for them while going up against the juggernaut that is Marvel but thus far only one film — ‘Wonder Woman’ — has truly dazzled audiences and critics alike. The rest of the films released made money but were critical failures by comparison.
So the new plan for Warner Bros. appears to be focusing on different characters away from Batman and Superman with several projects in the works including the upcoming ‘Joker’ standalone movie starring Joaquin Phoenix, a ‘Birds of Prey’ movie, the ‘Supergirl’ movie as well as a planned ‘Flash’ movie that is still expected to star Ezra Miller.
Of course, ‘Aquaman’ will be out later this year starring Jason Momoa and ‘Wonder Woman 2’ is currently in production with plans for a 2019 release. Other than that, DC and Warner Bros are effectively starting over from scratch and moving away from franchise characters like Batman and Superman for the time being.
That could be the biggest reason why Cavill will not return because with no plans to feature Superman for at least a few more years, it might be time for a new actor to fill those famous tights by the time the studio is ready to return to the character.
Only time will tell whether or not Cavill will ever suit up as Superman again but with no contract in place and no plans to feature the character any time soon, it doesn’t seem like he’ll be returning to the DC film universe any time soon if ever again.
