Henry Cavill Officially Addresses Returning as Superman After DCU Fallout

The future of the DCU was struck a shocking blow this week, as co-CEO’s James Gunn and Peter Safran were removed from their positions at the top of DC Studios. Following Paramount’s acquisition of Warner Bros. Discovery for $110 billion on Oct. 6, from which the new media company Skydance Corporation has been formed, the fate of Gunn and Safran’s DCU, which includes last year’s Superman, is now in flux. And former Man of Steel Henry Cavill has now weighed in, revealing if he’d ever consider returning to the role should he be called upon.

Cavill first played Superman in director Zack Snyder’s Man of Steel back in 2013, reprising the role across the former DCEU in 2016’s Batman v Superman: Dawn of Justice, 2017’s Justice League, and Zack Snyder’s Justice League in 2021. The last we saw of his iteration of the character was in 2022’s Black Adam, which ended with the hierarchy of power changing Dwayne Johnson’s supervillain facing off with the superhero in a post-credits scene.

While the plan was clearly to bring Cavill’s Superman back for whatever Johnson had planned for the franchise, this came to a somewhat unceremonious end with the hiring of James Gunn and Peter Safran, who rebooted the franchise with the DCU and recast Superman with Pearl and Hollywood star David Corenswet. Now, following the sudden announcement that both Gunn and Safran are out, Henry Cavill has revealed that yes, he would return to don the red cape. As a young mouse was once told, “never say never.”

“Look, there’s lots of fantastic storylines. 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.”

Invoking An American Tale while speaking with Inverse is absolutely something Superman will do, with Cavill’s comments quickly sending his fanbase into a frenzy. While the response and reactions to Cavill’s depiction of the superhero icon were a little divisive at the time, there’s no denying how much the actor resembles his comic book counterpart. He has also since stated how he would love to portray the “an enormously joyful Superman,” and thus go against the grit that made Snyder’s version so polarizing.

Whether Cavill will ever return as Superman is unknown at this time, which in itself is an unexpected development considering the positive critical reception to both 2025’s Superman reboot and Corenswet’s pitch-perfect portrayal. Reports have indicated that Gunn and Safran’s plans for the DCU will largely be dismantled, but with Superman sequel, Man of Tomorrow, due to be released on July 9, 2027, and reportedly introducing Wonder Woman, it would make more sense to keep the things that work (including Corenswet) rather than taking a step backwards. But with Cavill open to a comeback, this doesn’t mean the new newly emerged DCU can’t find a place for him somewhere.