Henry Cavill might have only recently reached an agreement with Warner Bros. to officially extend his tenure as the DCEU’s Superman, but apparently the speculation surrounding his time as the Big Blue Boy Scout is far from finished. While many fans had been hoping that this would finally see Man of Steel 2 given the green-light, it appears as though The Witcher star’s new contract is for cameo appearances only, meaning that Krypton’s favorite son will continue to be used in little more than a supporting capacity.
Joker has already shown that DC adaptations set outside of the shared continuity can reap huge critical and commercial rewards, while WB’s owners AT&T have been stirring their own pot when it comes to the rumors that they want Ben Affleck to return and make a standalone Batman movie of his own. Now, we’ve heard that Superman could be getting the same treatment, which might only serve to muddy the waters in terms of what’s canon and what’s not.
According to our intel – which comes from the same sources who told us a Justice League Dark and Green Lantern show are coming to HBO Max – both WB and J.J. Abrams, who recently signed a lucrative first-look deal with the studio, are pushing for a black actor to become the next Superman. But they have different names in mind for the role.
Of course, this is hardly a new development given that Will Smith admitted over a decade ago that he was offered the chance to suit up as Superman, but turned it down for fears that there would be a huge backlash towards an actor of color playing the part. Nevertheless, we’ve heard that while Warner Bros. are pushing for Michael B. Jordan, who’s been heavily linked in the past, Abrams is lobbying hard for Star Wars‘ John Boyega, although how this affects Henry Cavill remains unclear.
Presumably, the current incumbent of the costume will still be making those cameos in future DCEU movies, while the potential recast version of the character would star in solo outings that take place outside of the established mythology like Joker or Matt Reeves’ The Batman. While nothing is set in stone just yet, if the studio goes ahead with either Jordan or Boyega, then it would just mark another kick in the teeth for Cavill, who’s still waiting for the opportunity to really show what he can do while playing Superman.
