Henry Cavill no longer playing the role of Superman?

What’s Happening with Henry Cavill?

It’s been an odd 24 hours regarding Henry Cavill and his role as Superman in the DC Extended Universe films.

Cavill has featured in three films as Superman, Man of Steel (2013), Batman v Superman: Dawn of Justice (2016), and Justice League (2017).

Cavill was meant to be under contract to appear in at least one more DCEU film but that has been thrown into question with the release of a Hollywood Reporter article that suggested Cavill’s time might be up as the superhero.

A subsequent statement from Warner Bros. suggested no decisions had been made.

“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."

This was supported by a tweet from Dany Garcia, Cavill’s manager.

“Be peaceful, the cape is still in his closet. @wbpictures has been and continues to be our partners as they evolve the DC Universe. Anticipate a WB statement later today.”

Overall this suggests that the British actor will be staying on as Superman for now, although scheduling conflicts, as cited as one of the possible reasons for him departing, may be an issue with Cavill set to star in Netflix’s The Witcher.

Cavill didn’t help the situation when he posted a humorous and bizarre video on Instagram that’s hard to really put into words.

There are other reports suggesting Batman actor Ben Affleck is also set to leave the DCEU as well.

This news is perhaps less surprising due to plenty of previous rumours. Either actor leaving would be bad enough, but both going would put the already messy DCEU in jeopardy.

Warner Bros. have struggled to emulate the success of Marvel’s rival franchise and losing the two biggest stars or having to recast them (with rumours of Jon Hamm as Batman and Michael B. Jordan as Superman) wouldn’t help the situation.

Despite the critical panning that most of the DCEU has received, Cavill and Affleck have received a decent amount of praise for their roles as the iconic characters.

What happens next will be interesting to see. Perhaps there may even be a silver lining, with Superman and Batman in question it could lead to a Gal Gadot/Wonder Woman lead franchise which may reinvigorate the series.

The best outcome, of course, would be a now free Henry Cavill given the chance to make the sequel to The Man from U.N.C.L.E that the world deserves.

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Written by Owen Herman.