James Gunn reveals Henry Cavill ‘class act’ request after Superman exit

Henry Cavill, who played Superman in Zack Snyder’s iteration of the Man of Steel, had sparked excitement in 2022 when he returned as the red-caped superhero after a five-year hiatus.

However, that excitement quickly died down when it was revealed that DC Studios is being rebooted as James Gunn and Peter Safran took over as new heads. Despite it being an awful situation to be in, Cavill handled it like a class act, revealed Gunn.

“It’s terrible. Believe it or not, the day we were dealing with trying to figure out if we could take the job at DC Studios,” recalled Gunn on the Happy Sad Confused podcast, via Deadline.

“The day the deal closed, all of a sudden, they were announcing that Henry was back. And I was like, ‘What is going on? We know what the plan is. The plan was to come in and do Superman.’ It was really unfair to him and a total bummer.”

Gunn noted that it was a “really unfortunate” situation and believed that “poor guy” Cavill was caught in the middle the studio wanting to do something else and other – possibly directors – “trying to force their way”.

Gunn and Safran then “sat down” with Cavill to break the news. “He was an absolute gentleman and a great guy about it,” Gunn shared. “He said, ‘The only thing I ask is that I’m able to reveal it myself as opposed to coming from you guys.’ And I’m like, ‘That’s a class act.’”

David Corenswet has now filled in the shoes for the beloved superhero in the recently-rebooted Superman in the Gunn-Safran universe.