Major spoilers for Black Adam and Spider-Man: No Way Home follow.
It is (again) the end of an era, Superman fans: Henry Cavill will not return as the Man of Steel in the renewed DC Universe (DCU).
Confirmed by Cavill and new DC Studios co-head James Gunn on social media, the popular actor will no longer be wearing Superman's signature red cape going forward. Yes, he is like a kryptonite dagger in the hearts of DC fans everywhere.
Among those on the list is Superman. In the early stages, our story will focus on an earlier part of Superman's life, so the character will not be played by Henry Cavill. December 15, 2022
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The shocking reveal comes just two months after Cavill returned as Superman in Black Adam's post-credits scene. Cavill's appearance strongly implied that he had signed on to reprise his famous role in the DCU, aka the rebooted version of the increasingly disconnected DC Extended Universe (DCEU). If you're interested, you can find out how to watch the DCEU movies in order using our authoritative guide. You know, before this cinematic universe shut down forever.
Anyway, back to Cavill's Superman. Man of Steel 2 was even speculated to be in development, with Cavill set to star, following up on his Black Adam cameo as part of Gunn and co-director Peter Safran's DCU masterplan.
However, recent rumors suggested that Man of Steel 2 was ultimately not moving forward and that Cavill might not even return. And now, in a lengthy Twitter thread, Gunn has confirmed that the information is true. Instead, Gunn and Safran are moving forward with a young Superman movie, which Cavill isn't a part of, which all but confirms that the door has closed on his time as Clark Kent.
With his Superman era seemingly over, what's next for Cavill?
For starters, a surprising return to Netflix's Witcher-Verse is incredibly unlikely.
In November, Cavill revealed that he would not reprise his role as Geralt of Rivia after the fantasy show's next installment, The Witcher season 3, was released in mid-2023. No official reason was given for the departure. by Cavill, but industry insiders claimed that he disagreed with The Witcher's creative team about the show deviating from the source material. He will be replaced by Season 4's Liam Hemsworth, and showrunner Lauren Hissrich says she "completely understands" why fans of the show are outraged by Cavill's departure.
Whatever Cavill's reasons for putting down Geralt's sword, we'd be surprised if he made a U-turn and returned to one of the best shows on Netflix (in our opinion, anyway). It wouldn't be fair to take this opportunity away from Hemsworth, especially if he signed a multi-year contract to play the role of Geralt, assuming the show is renewed for more seasons. Also, if Cavill wasn't thrilled with the creative direction of Netflix's Witcher series, his return could be construed as an attempt to recapture his old work, especially if his current options are limited.
An actor of Cavill's caliber won't be out of a job for long, so don't bet on him returning to the mainland.
What else could Cavill use, then? He's been regularly linked with taking on the role of James Bond - read how to watch James Bond movies in order, so could a turn as 007 be in the cards?
Again, we'll file this as "extremely unlikely." Of course, Cavill would make a great connection. She has the physique, charisma and quintessential British character to play the role with aplomb. However, at 39, you have to wonder if you're the right age to play Bond for an extended period, while Bond producer Barbara Broccoli has publicly stated that she wants the franchise's next actor to make a "Commitment." from 10 to 12 years" on paper.
Would Cavill want to follow in the footsteps of Daniel Craig (who was also 39 when he first signed on to play Bond) and take on another iconic role for multiple movies? Probably not, in our opinion. Also, there are already plans to star in Argylle, an upcoming spy movie for Apple TV Plus. Would Cavill really want to be associated with two franchises positioned in espionage?
So how about a TV project that doesn't lock Cavill into an overly long multi-year contract and is a live-action adaptation of one of his favorite video game franchises?
Advanced mass effect. In December 2021, Cavill told TechRadar that he "would be interested" in playing the role of Commander Shepherd in a possible Mass Effect TV series if given the opportunity. Cavill's reveal came after rumors surfaced online, based on one of his Instagram posts, no less, that he was set to star in a Mass Effect TV show on Prime Video.
Amazon Studios is slowly amassing an exciting list of television adaptations of fan-favorite video games. A live-action Fallout series is in development, and a TV show based on 14's multi-award winning God of War (opens in a new tab) was announced for Prime Video last night (December 2018). Why not add Mass Effect to the pile and cast Cavill to star in it? It would be a huge blow to Amazon if that were the case, especially since Amazon reportedly took on one of Netflix's most marketable stars following his departure from The Witcher.
Speaking of competition, Marvel could get one from DC by recruiting Cavill for an MCU role. Cavill previously denied claims that he was going to play Hyperion in Loki season 2, but there's sure to be a perfect role for him (even if it's a one-off performance) within the frame of the Marvel movie giant. What about Sentry, who would be the villain of the upcoming Marvel Phase 5 Thunderbolts movie? Cavill has experience playing villains, albeit a bit seasoned, with his role as August Walker in Mission Impossible: Fallout being his most famous antagonist role. If he was cast as the Sentry, then seeing Cavill as a villain wouldn't be a foreign concept to viewers.
If we're staying in geeky territory, why not cast Cavill in the lead role in a new live-action Warhammer movie? He is a big fan of board games. It would surely be a dream for him (and Warhammer fans everywhere) to star in a film based on Games Workshop's fantasy series or its Warhammer 40,000 alternative.
Finally, why not bring him back as Superman? On his Twitter account, Gunn confirmed that he and Cavill had discussed other DCU opportunities (opens in new tab) that might be a good fit for the actor. Well, the Man of Steel is already perfect for him. And, if the DCU ends up exploring its own multiverse (disregarding the DCEU's own vision, of course), Cavill's Superman could make a crowd-pleasing return down the road as part of any multiversal team-up. .
Spider-Man: No Way Home did an amazing job (pun intended) bringing together Tom Holland, Tobey Maguire, and Andrew Garfield's Spider-Men on the big screen. Meanwhile, Sony's Spider-Man: Into the Spider-Verse and its upcoming sequel Across the Spider-Verse, as well as the MCU, are currently exploring comic book-based multiverses. Why wouldn't DC take a leaf out of the Marvel and Sony books and do the same in the DCU and allow Cavill to return one last time? About you, James and Peter.
For more DC-based content, read how to watch the Batman movies in order. You can also find out which DCEU movies are on our list of the best superhero movies.