A week ago, if you had told me someone asked Henry Cavill in an interview if he’d come back as Superman, I’d almost think it was cruel. That’s how unlikely his return seemed at the time. But a lot has happened in the last week, with James Gunn and Peter Safran no longer the heads of DC Studios at Skydance. With the DC slate very much in question, things that seemed impossible just recently could actually happen—and that includes Cavill coming back as the Man of Steel.
Cavill himself has always seemed open to the idea. While speaking with Inverse about his eighties-inspired video game for GoogleBook, Mustache Protocol, Cavill seemed willing to consider the possibility. “Look, there’s lots of fantastic storylines,” he told Inverse. “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.”
But could Cavill come back? Since Gunn and Safran’s ouster, there has been wild speculation published about the quality of Gunn’s follow-up to Superman, Man of Tomorrow. It’s worth noting that his Lex Luthor, Nicholas Hoult, was among those reported to be testing as 007, but could that mean anything? I suppose it all depends on how Man of Tomorrow does. It now seems that Superman, despite its hefty worldwide gross, was not a big moneymaker for WB, and if Man of Tomorrow performs similarly—or worse—I would imagine David Corenswet’s time as Superman will come to an end. But there’s also the fact that Corenswet has Mr. Irrelevant coming out at the end of the year, and apparently it’s one of the highest-testing movies in Paramount history—and that’s a Skydance company. If it does well, they may opt to stay in business with him, even if someone else takes the creative reins of the franchise.
All that doesn’t totally rule out a Cavill return. Skydance may look at the enduring popularity of the Snyderverse movies and opt to make another movie of that ilk—potentially with Cavill reprising his role. I wouldn’t say it’s likely at this point, but it’s not as impossible as it was last week.
At any rate, Henry Cavill is a busy guy, with his Highlander reboot due in theaters in 2027 (no release date yet), along with his Mike Flanagan-produced Warhammer series. Then again, who really knows? Stranger things have happened, and I wouldn’t rule anything out at this point.
