Following a couple of years of uncertainty, it seems things have come full circle for Superman as Henry Cavill is in talks to reprise his role in the DC Extended Universe. The actor first played the part in 2013’s Man of Steel but hasn’t suited up as Clark Kent since Justice League hit theaters in 2017. Now, we have word that Cavill has entered into discussions with Warner Bros. to put the cape back on and bring Superman back to the big screen.
According to various reports, Henry Cavill is indeed in talks to come back as Superman. There are no details at this time as to, specifically, what that might entail. This could be related to Zack Snyder’s Justice League, aka the Snyder Cut, which was recently announced for HBO Max next year. It also could mean another standalone feature at some point. Though the indication right now is that this will, at least at first, be for an appearance in another DC movie. In any event, it seems we haven’t seen the last of Cavill in the role. It also marks the end of a bizarre and tumultuous period for the character.
Once Zack Snyder departed Justice League, things got messy. Joss Whedon was brought in to oversee rewrites/reshoots, which resulted in a movie that disappointed critically and commercially. There was also the famous mustache debacle, as Henry Cavill was shooting Mission: Impossible – Fallout at the time and his character had prominent facial hair. Paramount refused to let him shave it, meaning Warner Bros. had to use CGI to erase the moustache from Superman’s face following the reshoots. This didn’t pan out as the studio had hoped in the end, to say the least. Nearly a year later in September 2018, it was reported that Warner Bros. and Cavill were parting ways.
Things got a bit odd at times, with Cavill making a couple of strange posts on Instagram that raised a lot of questions, while also being dodgy about the subject in interviews. Behind the scenes, Warner Bros. was looking to retool DC Films following the less-than-stellar performance of Justice League. But between Aquaman, which became the highest-grossing DC movie ever, Shazam, Joker and, at least critically speaking, Birds of Prey, DC Films is back on track. That seems to have opened the door for Cavill’s return as Superman.
Man of Steel was released in 2013 and kicked off what we now know as the DCEU. It was met with a somewhat mixed response, but grossed a solid $668 million at the global box office. Cavill reprised the role in Batman v Superman: Dawn of Justice, which proved to be intensely divisive. It earned $873 million worldwide. Another Superman standalone feature was in various stages of development for some time but never quite came together. In the time since the studio and Cavill parted ways, a Supergirl movie also entered development, but that has seemingly been put on hold. We’ll be sure to keep you posted as further details are made available. This news was reported by The Wrap.
