Henry Cavill won’t be returning to play Superman in the recently restructured DC universe. He was introduced in 2013’s Man of Steel, directed by Zack Snyder. Since then, he has appeared in four DC movies in total.
He later also cameoed in the Dwayne Johnson-led Black Adam, which gave many hope about his return as the beloved superhero. Unfortunately, those hopes were shattered, with David Corenswet being announced to take on the role in James Gunn and Peter Safran’s DC Studios.
Here’s why Cavill will not come back as Superman.
Why Henry Cavill’s Superman was recast with David Corenswet
After being announced as the Co-CEOs and Co-chairman of DC Studios, Safran and Gunn rebooted the franchise entirely, bringing in new projects and recasting all major characters. Gunn, who is at the helm of the upcoming movie, reportedly wished to cover the younger life of Clark Kent/Superman. Therefore, he replaced Cavill with Corenswet, offering a fresh take on the beloved character.
However, it cannot be overlooked that Cavill was confirmed to return to the franchise after his surprising cameo in Black Adam. He also took to Instagram to reveal that he is set to wear the red cape.
The actor said, “I wanted to wait until the weekend was over before posting this because I wanted to give you all a chance to watch ‘Black Adam. But now that plenty of you have, I wanted to make it official: I am back as Superman.” There were also talks about a potential Kryptonian movie. However, with Black Adam’s relatively lacklustre performance at the box office, Warner Bros. reportedly had a change of plans in its DC regime.
As a result, Safran and Gunn were recruited to give DC a fresh start. The latter has previously confirmed his vision for the upcoming movie and clarified that Cavill won’t return on X (formerly Twitter). He said, “Among those on the slate is Superman. In the initial stages, our story will be focusing on an earlier part of Superman’s life, so the character will not be played by Henry Cavill.”
Superman will arrive in theatres on July 11, 2025.
