'Superman' Director Reveals Real Reason Behind Henry Cavill's Recasting: 'It Was Really Unfair to Him'
It's no secret that the original iteration of the DCEU had plenty of flaws, but one of the few highlights of the series could be found in the performance of Henry Cavill's dark and brooding iteration of Superman.
Despite earning a positive response from fans and critics alike for his performance as a far more mature version of DC's Man of Steel, Cavill was ultimately dismissed from the role right around the time former Marvel director James Gunn took over DC's creative direction.
With the recent arrival of Superman, however, the 58-year-old Gunn has spoken out about the truth behind Cavill's departure from DC, as well as the actor's own surprising response to the news.
Appearing on a recent episode of the Happy Sad Confused podcast, the Guardians of the Galaxy director discussed the initial confusion around the announcement of a new Superman movie and the false belief Cavill would be returning for the film.
'The day our [DC] deal closed, all of a sudden, they were announcing that Henry was back,' said Gunn. 'And I'm like, 'What is going on?' We know what the plan is. The plan was to come in and do Superman [with a new actor in the lead role]. So it was really unfair to him and a total bummer.'
As confusion swirled around Cavill's future within the DCU, Gunn sat down with DC co-CEO Peter Safran, in which the two decided the best move forward was personally informing The Witcher actor that he wouldn't be returning for a new Superman film.
'So Peter and I [thought] the right thing to do was to sit down with [Cavill] and talk to him," Gunn recalled. "He was an absolute gentleman, a great guy about it. He said, 'The only thing I ask is that I'm able to reveal it myself as opposed to it coming from you guys.''
Though most fans might have been heartbroken to lose out on a star of Cavill's magnitude, Gunn went on to say that he'd "love" to include the actor in a future DCU film.
'I talked to him about it on that day,' Gunn confirmed. 'I would love to put Henry in something.'
'Superman' Director Reveals Real Reason Behind Henry Cavill's Recasting: 'It Was Really Unfair to Him' first appeared on Parade on Jul 22, 2025
This story was originally reported by Parade on Jul 22, 2025, where it first appeared.
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