According to The Hollywood Reporter, Henry Cavill will not play Superman again, having parted ways with Warner Bros.
With reports that Cavill would make a cameo appearance as Superman in the upcoming “Shazam!” film, the claim is that talks have failed between Cavill’s WME reps and Warner Bros., closing the door on any future appearances as Superman by Cavill.
With Warner Bros. now shifting its focus to a live-action Supergirl movie, and no solid plans in place for a future Superman film, Cavill’s age seems to now rule him out of ever playing the Man of Steel again. “Superman is like James Bond, and after a certain run you have to look at new actors,” says a studio source.
Warner has now released a statement following the news saying: “While no decisions have been made regarding any upcoming Superman films, we’ve always had great respect for and a great relationship with Henry Cavill, and that remains unchanged.”
According to Deadline.com, Warner Bros. has been mulling a completely different direction with its Superman canon for some time, even considering casting Michael B. Jordan in the role down the road. This seems unlikey, with many fans already thinking Warner Bros. shifted too far away from comic book canon with the recent Cavill films.
I personally wouldn’t mind seeing him go, but I doubt Cavill is done. Then again I did just see Tom Welling (and Michael Rosenbaum) this past weekend, and he’s looking like he could pull off at least two films as a relatively older Superman.
Welling doesn’t want to nor has ever wanted to play Superman. I imagine any statement he makes about it is just him being diplomatic.
I was being tongue in cheek. The only things he said directly on the matter were that Superman is better than the Flash (I was wearing a Flash tee shirt), and that he is open to the idea of an animated Smallville revival, but he wouldn’t read the continuation comics because he wants to find out where Clark is going at the same time as the character.
Ah sorry for the misinterpretation. I would love for Rosenbaum to come replace Jesse Eisenberg though haha
No worries, reading tone is always hard. Re: Rosenbaum replacing Lex Luthor: Let me preface this by saying that he was being very silly during their panel (last weekend was Rose City Comic Con in Portland, OR), but his relationship with the movies came up twice. First he said that he was disappointed to have not even been asked to read for the part. Later they were asked what one thing they would change about their respective characters in the films, and he said that there are enough “Zany, out there villains” (he used the Joker as an example), and… Read more »
Rosenbaum is still the best Post Crisis version we’ve ever had. It was sad that the cinematic version (eisenberg not Hackman) was such a freakin joke. I can’t believe Snyder couldn’t wrangle in his goofy performance. I don’t know what movie he thought he was in. It’s funny because I recall an interview with Jesse before the movie came out where he was criticizing the goofy nature of comic book movie villains and that he and Terrio came up with such a great take. I was not impressed by the writing or the performance. Rosenbauns version was spot on.
I don’t disagree. But coming purely from my personal opinion, I think a LOT of things should have been reigned in or changed.
Absolutely! One of many things
I wanted to ask him, but didn’t get the chance, if he thought the scene in the movie “Father of Invention” was mind-screwy because he gets into a fight with Kevin Spacey.
This just again shows the ineptitude of WB/DC and its higher ups. To let the situation escalate to this is beyond ridiculous.. these negotiations seem to be getting ugly and are playing out right before our eyes in public. I don’t blame Henry for putting his career first by taking the Witcher role, especially if WB was only going to offer him scraps with cameos here and there. Superman deserved a proper sequel and WB/DC has displayed all the wrong reactionary behaviors. ‘Nolan’s movies were a success? Let’s make all our characters like Batman!’ ‘Oh MoS underperformed? Bring in Batman… Read more »
Well Said Sundevil. I agree wholeheartedly. To manage to screw up some of these properties so badly, is actually quite the feat of ineptitude and very sad for the fans.
Can’t hardly disagree with one word you’ve stated.
Bomer definitely has the look, and he’s played the role on two different occasions (in the Japanese ads for the Toyota Prius circa 2009 and voicing the character in the 2013 film “Superman Unbound”), but at 5’10”, he’s shorter than both Cavill and Tyler Hoechlin.
If they can manage to make Tom Cruise seem tall then I’m sure they’d be able to give Bomer a few inches.
It would really be a shame to stop using an actor who, to me, is perfect for the role. It’s a hard role to cast, they found a great actor. Are they really going to try to find someone else who they think can do better?
Something else that is kind of buried under all of this is that WB clearly has no intentions of using Superman for anything in the near future.
Yet they’ll happily mine his mythos. They’ll give us everything Superman, EXCEPT Superman.
There’s also a rumor that what they wanted to do was position Superman in a Nick Fury type of role where he never has a movie of his own but always gets a bit in everyone elses movie. So basically the grandaddy of the DCU and indeed all superheroes more or less reduced to permanent walk-on status. (Though to be fair Nick Fury does get some very important bits in the movies he’s appeared in but still..)
Oh that was more than just a rumor, I believe that’s when Henry started to try and get a campaign going for a new Superman film and I was all for it. My favorite and arguably the greatest superhero should not be reduced to a cameo role because Snyder, Goyer and Terrio failed him. They are so out of touch, but not surprising considering they’re moving forward with a Joker origin movie above all else directed by The Hangover guy with no sign of Batman.
I’m sure some brilliant WB exec is pushing for stunt casting or some big name star like Jordon.
Henry and Superman both have gotten the short end of the stick from the WB.
Cavil IS still Supes until either He or WB says he is not…& I mean flat out says he is no longer working for them as Superman (like how James Gunn was officially confirmed by his employer (Disney) was let go). Speculate all you want, hate or love the idea all you want…I’ll just reserve judgment until it is proved or debunked.
While a decision may not have been made this does shine a light on the ugliness of the negotiations that are now playing out publicly . The studio released a statement in the middle of the night to essentially catch Henry and his manager off guard, only for her and the studio to have to tweet vague responses in turn. Based on the WB decisions of the past and the clear disdain they have for Superman, I Side with Henry here. They’re basically offering him scraps and asking him to be available for cameos and playing second fiddle to the… Read more »
I had a good rational & logical response but I guess the Moderator felt the phrase “poop (not that word used) or get off the pot” was unacceptable on this thread. (a big SMH) especially when the phrase was not meant as a derogatory comment to you but maybe Cavil’s feelings to WB’s lack of speed in a concrete plan for Superman’s future…there was more but I forgot what it was & have no desire to retype it out once I do remember.
Using Henry’s age at this point is a total cop out and a grand excuse. But I think over the last bit of time and the fact that we heard nothing from the SD comic con, that this result was a strong possibility. I was holding out that they were waiting for a great script before they announced a Superman sequel. This is a total slap in the face towards all of us. If they think that a Supergirl movie will over ride and take the place of Superman they’re sadly mistaken. The only thing that a Supergirl movie will… Read more »
I’m wondering if they were using that supergirl announcement as some sort of negotiation tactic. For example ‘take what we’re offering you, cameos and the like, or were going to replace you with supergirl.’ I wouldn’t put it past the idiots in charge over there.
Thing is Superman and Supergirl shouldn’t need to be either/or. They both deserve new movies and both need to be treated with care and respect and neither should be treated as damaged goods. I say this even while understanding that maybe Henry’s Superman has a lot of baggage from previous missteps but you don’t fix that by giving up on Clark in favor of Kara. That’d be WB basically blaming the character and the actor for THEIR mistakes.
I absolutely agree. There’s no reason why they couldn’t put both into production or even do an adaptation of Superman: Brainiac or even the Batman/Superman: Apocalypse story. I just wouldn’t put it past WB to use her solo movie as a bargaining chip.
You do have a point redcape. George Reeves was in his 40’s when he was in the role of Superman.
Actual post from Henry…I really hate cryptic posts though….
https://www.instagram.com/p/BnpPIrmFN9n/?utm_source=ig_web_copy_link
This is really sad news for all Superman fans out there. I enjoyed his performance and wished for more to come, and he never ceased to keep pushing for more and getting to the next level of his portrayal. Cameos are by far not enough to explore more of the character for future films. Probably the offer put to him on the table for the Witcher was a whole lot more lucrative than being Superman. And from a business POV Henry has all the right to think about his career in order to advance further and play other roles. Superman… Read more »
Brandon Routh
I really didn’t even know that he want to quit playing the character. But I hope these are just rumors.
I don’t think he does…but he can’t put his acting career on hold while WB sits there with their thumbs up their A$$ deciding whether or not to have concrete plans laid out for the character/franchise in the near future
I have no words… just this…
https://www.change.org/p/warner-brothers-keep-henry-cavill-as-superman?recruiter=16049288&utm_source=share_petition&utm_medium=copylink&utm_campaign=share_petition
Same old story. Same old song, and dance. Whether they’re keeping him, or letting him go, could they just make the decision already? Same goes for Affleck, and Batman. WB needs to own their failures with those characters, and start moving forward. If Cavill, and Affleck are gone, then announce it. They’d be way better off being honest, and putting all this stuff to bed. They’re doing nothing to dissuade the notion that they’re a bunch of incompetent fools.
Well…..I guess with the most recent article and the WB walking back on no Superman decision, we can dismiss this one as more “fake news” and I’m glad it is!
I don’t think we’re quite out of the woods yet. There is very clearly some ugly negotiations going on behind the scenes. I think we will be definitively getting an answer one way or the other in the coming days or week. My guess is we’re going to get a Superman sequel announcement along with some cameos or he will definitively announce his departure. There won’t be any in between. Obviously I’m hoping for the former.