James Gunn recalled the moment he had to inform Henry Cavill, the most recent actor to wear Superman’s cape before David Corenswet suited up, that he’d be recasting the role in the new DCU.
“We sat down with Henry … It’s terrible,” Gunn explained to Josh Horowitz on his “Happy Sad Confused” podcast on Friday after the host asked about how the discussion with Cavill went. Gunn explained that at the time, he had already started penning a new, younger version of Superman prior to getting his job as co-head of DC Studios alongside co-CEO Peter Safran.
However, Gunn explained that at some point wires were crossed, as the day prior to Gunn and Safran signing their deal to head the superhero division of Warner Bros. in October 2022, Cavill’s return as Superman was announced.
“We were dealing with trying to figure out if we could take the job at DC Studios and we’re talking to David Zaslav and all the legal people there and figuring out what our deals would be. And the day our deal closed, all of a sudden they were announcing that Henry was back and I’m like, ‘What is going on? We know what the plan is,’ and [it] was a total bummer. But there was a vacuum at the time,” Gunn explained. “They had wanted to take on what they wanted to do at DC and were trying to force their way and it just was never part of the equation for David Zaslav who was the head of WBD.”
He continued, explaining that’s when they ultimately had to have the tough conversation with Cavill. But Gunn noted that the actor was a complete “gentleman” during the conversation and had just one request.
“We came in and that was really unfortunate. I’m like, this poor guy. Peter and I— the right thing to do is sit down with him and talk to him,” Gunn said. “We sat down, we talked to him. He was an absolute gentleman, a great guy about it. He said, ‘The only thing I ask is that I’m able to reveal it myself as opposed to coming from you guys.’”
When asked if bringing Cavill back into the fold would throw off the story in anyway, Gunn said, “No, as another character? Absolutely not. No, I talked to him about it on that day. No, I would love to put Henry in something.”
“Superman” is now playing in theaters.
You can watch the full “Happy Sad Confused” episode in the video above. You can listen to the podcast here.
