Or maybe…just not right now? Sheesh. Hello DC and DCEU fans. Or is it DC Studios fans? Maybe its…oh who knows anymore. The DCEU has had a tumultuous year. I know, as I’ve taken to this blog to share my thoughts on the matter throughout. At one point, I even wrote about how this COULD HAVE BEEN the year for DC! Maybe I jinxed it. Earlier this week there was news that Patty Jenkins and Gal Gadot would not be getting a third Wonder Woman film. And now they’ve announced that Henry Cavill will not be returning as Superman.
In spite of his Black Adam end credit surprise cameo, Henry Cavill has been informed from new DC Studio heads James Gunn and Peter Safran that they will not be using him as Superman going forward. Cavill announced his return just weeks ago. But that was before Gunn and Safran had taken their seats. It seems Gunn and Safran have other plans for the DCEU but what we still don’t know. They’ve been dropping hints on Twitter apparently, but I’ve not been keeping up. Twitter, as I’m sure you know, is a raging dumpster fire of its own.
On social media Cavill shared a message saying, “James and Peter have a universe to build…” Oy Vey. Pardon the the lack of excitement but I feel I’m still in the throws of MCU burnout at the moment. So, we’re building a universe…again. Just call me when Matt Reeve’s The Batman sequel comes out, okay? The shared universe was cool at first but now it’s starting to wear on me.
The Nerdist.com reports that Gunn says, “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.” But he does go on to say, “But we just had a great meeting with Henry and we’re big fans and we talked about a number of exciting possibilities to work together in the future.” Which, I interpret as a younger Superman? Does this mean we’re getting a sort of origin story (groan)? Or maybe they’re making a Superman Year One (guarded optimism)? Who knows what Gunn means. My biggest question, knowing all of this behind-the-scene stuff, will fans show up to see what’s left of the old DCEU? Knowing that the next Flash and Aquaman films just lead to a dead end may have an affect on box office performance.
Remember when movies were magical? No one knew of the studio dealings happening in the background and we just showed up and were wowed. It was called “movie magic.” We watched epic stories. And no one knew how much money was made or paid, or what in-fighting took place during filming. We were just there for the story, the special effects, the romance, the action and the adventure. Look at me, now I sound like Nicole Kidman in some dark theater waxing poetic. Actually, it’s just me, a disgruntled millennial who just needs a bit more escapism.
To Henry Cavill, I’m sad to see you go sir. But to James Gunn and Peter Safran, you better make all of this worth it.