Henry Cavill might be out as Superman, Warner Bros.’ Man of Steel, according to a new report.
As Warner Bros. turns its focus to a Supergirl movie — with any standalone Superman flicks on the back burner for a few years — scheduling conflicts appear to have scuttled plans for a Cavill cameo as the caped crusader in the upcoming Shazam! film, sources told the Hollywood Reporter.
A source further said that the studio is trying to hit a “reset” button on its DC Universe and head slowly in a different direction.
“Superman is like James Bond, and after a certain run you have to look at new actors,” a studio source told the trade publication.
Reps for the studio and the actor did not respond to requests for comment Wednesday morning, but Warner Bros. told THR that no decisions have been made yet and that it has “always had great respect for and a great relationship with Henry Cavill, and that remains unchanged.”
Cavill’s Superman was resurrected in the 2017 Justice League movie after sacrificing himself to save the world in 2016’s Batman v Superman: Dawn of Justice.
The actor told The Times in December that he was contracted to do another Superman movie and felt hopeful about the role.
“There’s a wonderful opportunity to tell the Superman story,” he said at the time. “Now there is a fantastic chance to show Superman in his full colours and tell a very complex, character-driven movie that is based on story and have that wonderful sensation of hope and happiness.”
Cavill saw Justice League as a transformation from the previous film.
“I feel like this is the natural progression from the end of Man of Steel into what he is now. This is a rebirth of the character, to coin the DC comics franchise right now: It’s a refresh.”
At that point, he had already signed up to be in the eight-episode Netflix series The Witcher.
Other films on the horizon for Warner Bros. is the upcoming Shazam! with Zachary Levi, Wonder Woman 1984, due out in November 2019, and Ezra Miller in a stand-alone movie for the Flash. Aquaman, with Jason Momoa, opens this December.
A stand-alone Batman film was also once to star and be directed by Ben Affleck. Now, Matt Reeves is directing and is expected to recast the role.
