Henry Cavill won’t rule out a Superman return now that James Gunn is out at DC: “Never say never”
With James Gunn out, the former Man of Steel has finally settled it — he’s given a clear yes-or-no on wearing the red cape again.
Bit of a bombshell in the world of DC Studios this week, in case you missed it. The company’s two top bosses, James Gunn and Peter Safran, have both been kicked out just as things felt like they were finally getting sorted. This all comes off the back of the absurdly massive Paramount takeover of Warner Bros. Discovery on 6 October, clocking in at a jaw-dropping $110 billion. In the process, the new overlords—going by Skydance Corporation—seem to have left DC’s movie universe more up in the air than ever. Lovely bit of corporate carnage for your Friday, isn’t it?
$110 billion: that's what Paramount paid to snap up Warner Bros. Discovery for its shiny new Skydance Corporation.
Cavill, Superman, and the revolving door
One person who knows all about uncertainty at DC is Henry Cavill. He first turned up as everyone’s favourite Kryptonian in Zack Snyder’s Man of Steel back in 2013, then did it all again with 2016’s Batman v Superman: Dawn of Justice, 2017’s Justice League, and Zack Snyder’s Justice League in 2021. If you’re still counting, the last place he turned up in the cape was in Black Adam in 2022—yes, that post-credits bit, right after Dwayne Johnson went on about changing the hierarchy of power. The plan—supposedly—was for Cavill’s Superman to be the big face-off with Johnson’s Black Adam going forwards.
Instead, Gunn and Safran strolled in, flushed the old DCEU down the loo, and rebooted everything as the DCU, ditching Cavill and giving the Superman gig to David Corenswet (who, you’ll know if you’ve seen Pearl or Hollywood, has the jawline for it). That all seemed fairly settled, if a bit abrupt for Cavill fans, but—well—corporate takeovers have a way of blowing up whatever plans were on the table, don’t they?
Would Cavill really return?
Now that Gunn and Safran are out, Cavill’s been asked if he’d ever step back into the iconic red trunks, if the new regime came calling. Here’s Cavill in his own words, from a recent interview:
Look, there's lots of fantastic storylines. There's always a lot of opportunity. As the pigeon sang to Fievel in An American Tail, “never say never.” And I buy into that. I’ve had such a wonderful time playing Superman in the past. I would never say never now.
So, if you were hoping for some big torch-passing speech or dramatic goodbye, tough luck—he’s leaving the door as wide open as it ever was. Or, to put it another way: Henry Cavill isn’t ruling out flying back into the fold if Skydance wants him.