The Englishman’s return to Superman was over even sooner than the DCEU was. After a meeting with James Gunn, Peter Safran, and the rest of the Warner Bros. hierarchy, Henry Cavil has officially been axed as Superman as the cape will pass to a new actor in a new universe.
To be honest, this is what I expected would happen…even if I’m a little sad about it.
It only makes sense that James Gunn and Peter Safran, the new creative heads of DC, would want to remove any links to DCEU, the Snyder Cut, and nearly any other DC project (aside from Joker and The Batman) that has taken place since the conclusion of The Dark Knight trilogy. And that includes Cavil’s Superman.
I’d be doing the same thing with Cavil, Ben Affleck (who’s all but finished as Batman), Ezra Miller (who’s definitely finished as The Flash), and Jason Momoa (who’s probably finished as Aquaman) if I was Gunn as I’d want my own actors portraying the way I saw the DC superheroes.
Apart from Gal Gadot, who’s future is still up in the air as Wonder Woman after Patty Jenkin’s Wonder Woman 3 was cancelled, all of the DCEU actors and actresses have such a horrible stigma attached to their characters that it’d be almost impossible to keep them around for future projects.
Whether it’s Ben Affleck’s taboo Batman that kills, Ezra Miller just being a trash human being, Jason Momoa’s Aquaman plagued by the Amber Heard-Johnny Depp saga, or Henry Cavil’s way-to-soon-killed-off Superman, DC’s biggest heroes have suffered irrevocable damages from the DCEU and the Snyder Cut.
And, as I’m writing this, I have to add Gadot to that stigma list as her Wonder Woman has been ruined with abomination that is Wonder Woman 1984.
The only people who still have a great chance of being in Gunn and Safran’s new DC universe is Margot Robbie’s Harley Quinn and Viola Davis’ Amanda Waller (they were both brought back for Gunn’s version of The Suicide Squad and survived), though I’m not sure Robbie or Davis will want to come back for yet another reboot of the universe.
Still, with or without Cavil, the future of the DC looks really bright with James Gunn and Peter Safran in charge.
They’ve already proven their talents behind the camera with Gunn being responsible for The Guardians of the Galaxy and The Suicide Squad’s tremendous success, while Safran’s has produced some of the best horror and superhero films (Annabelle, The Conjuring, Shazam) of the past two decades. And now they have showcased their ironclad resolve with the Cavil decision.
Weaker producers and directors would have caved to fan pressure to recast Cavil, but not Gunn and Safran. They have the future of the DC and potentially Warner Bros. in their hands, and they know it.
(Warner Bros. Pictures-Batman Vs. Superman: Dawn of Justice-Comic-Con Trailer)
This move was the only way for Warner Bros. and DC to grow, though I still feel bad for Cavil. He was brought in as a cameo for the Black Adam movie and was told by the former DC heads he’d be dawning the mantel again in the second Black Adam movie. He didn’t deserve to get the rug pulled out from under him like this, though that’s just how showbiz goes sometimes.
I trust he’ll be able to recover from this and latch onto another blockbuster project that catches his eye.
Though, the one character that might not be able to ‘recover’ from this Cavil news is Dwayne Johnson’s Black Adam. With The Rock being the sole driving force in bringing back Henry Cavil as Superman, does this now mean that Johnson is out as Black Adam? The movie was poorly received, and barley made back the money spent on its production.
I guess we’ll see.
Images Source: Featured Images: (Warner Bros. Pictures) (Batman v Superman: Dawn of Justice – Comic-Con Trailer [HD] – YouTube)
In Text Image 1: (Warner Bros. Pictures) (Batman v Superman: Dawn of Justice – Comic-Con Trailer [HD] – YouTube)
