James Gunn recalls booting Henry Cavill from Superman role: 'Poor guy'
In an episode of the "Happy Sad Confused" podcast released on Friday, July 18, "Superman" director James Gunn reflected on the "terrible" experience of telling Cavill he was being replaced as Superman by David Corenswet for the new movie.
Gunn said he sat down with the actor to break the news in 2022. At the time, Cavill had recently returned as Superman for a surprise cameo in the DC movie "Black Adam," starring Dwayne "The Rock" Johnson. After that film was released in October 2022, Cavill announced on social media that he was "back as Superman" and would reprise the role in future movies.
But on "Happy Sad Confused," Gunn revealed that the same day Cavill's return was announced, he and producer Peter Safran closed a deal to take over as the heads of DC Studios. Behind the scenes, the pair had already been planning to reboot Superman and replace Cavill, who had played the character going back to 2013's "Man of Steel."
"The day our deal closed, all of a sudden, they were announcing that Henry was back, and I'm like, 'What is going on? We know what the plan is.' The plan was to come in and do 'Superman,' " Gunn said. "So it was really unfair to him, and it was a total bummer."
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He added, "That was really unfortunate. I'm like, 'This poor guy.' "
Gunn noted that bringing back Cavill was "never a part of the equation" for David Zaslav, CEO of Warner Bros. Discovery, DC Studios' parent company. But Gunn said there was a "vacuum" in leadership at DC, and "a lot of people" were "trying to force" through their vision for the future of the franchise. He did not name names, though, noting he was trying to be "as diplomatic as possible."
During his 2022 meeting with Cavill, Gunn said the actor was an "absolute gentleman" and a "great guy about it," only asking that he be able to share the news that he was being replaced as Superman himself.
Cavill did so in December 2022, when he posted a statement on Instagram revealing that he "will, after all, not be returning as Superman."
"After being told by the studio to announce my return back in October, prior to (Gunn and Safran's) hire, this news isn't the easiest, but that's life," Cavill told fans. "The changing of the guard is something that happens. I respect that."
In posts on X at the time, Gunn said that Cavill would not star in the next "Superman" movie because the film would focus on "an earlier part of" the character's life. Corenswet, who at 32 is 10 years younger than Cavill, was ultimately cast in the lead role of "Superman." The movie is positioned as the start of a relaunched DC universe, set in a world separate from the one that Cavill's Superman occupied.
Johnson, the star of "Black Adam," has previously said he played a major role in bringing Cavill back for his cameo in the 2022 film. "At the end of the day, the studio was not bringing Henry Cavill back, inexplicably and inexcusably," the actor said in a video on social media in 2022. "But we weren't going to take no for an answer."
But just because Cavill is out as Superman doesn't mean his time with DC is over. Gunn said on "Happy Sad Confused" that Cavill could play another character in the new DC universe − just as "Aquaman" star Jason Momoa will play a new character, Lobo, in 2026's "Supergirl."
"I talked to him about it on that day," Gunn said. "I would love to put Henry in something."
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