James Gunn reveals Henry Cavill’s reaction to ‘Superman’ re-casting

James Gunn's new Superman, which serves as a launchpad for the new DC Universe, features David Corenswet wearing the red cape; however, fans can still expect to see Henry Cavill in the DCU.

The DC Studios co-head confirmed that he “would love” to cast Cavill in the DCU on the Happy Sad Confused podcast.

Gunn recalled how he and co-head Peter Safran broke the news to the “absolute gentleman” actor, Cavill, that he would not be playing Clark Kent in the franchise.

“It’s terrible. Believe it or not, the day we were dealing with trying to figure out if we could take the job at DC Studios,” said Gunn. “The day the deal closed, all of a sudden, they were announcing that Henry was back. And I was like, ‘What is going on? We know what the plan is. The plan was to come in and do Superman.’ It was really unfair to him and a total bummer.”

Reminding himself of 2022, when Gunn and Safran were assigned to co-head DC Studios, he noted that it was a space where many people were trying to fit in.

“They had a take on what they wanted to do at DC, and they were trying to force their way,” he said, “and it was just never part of the equation for [WBD CEO] David Zaslav. We came in, and that was really unfortunate. I’m like, ‘This poor guy.’”

To break the big news, DC Studios co-heads “sat down” with Cavill to break it to him.

“He was an absolute gentleman and a great guy about it,” asserted Gunn. “He said, ‘The only thing I ask is that I’m able to reveal it myself as opposed to it coming from you guys.’ And I’m like, ‘That’s a class act.’”

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