Just when they finally got him right…
Yes, as the title suggests, after three movies, it looks as if Henry Cavill’s time as the Man of Steel has come to an end.
Courtesy of The Hollywood Reporter, Cavill and Warner Brothers are seemingly parting ways. The studio had been doing their utmost to get Cavill’s Superman to cameo in next April’s Shazam!, although scheduling conflicts meant that wasn’t possible. With talks breaking down over that appearance, Warners has reportedly closed the book on this latest cinematic incarnation of the Big Blue Boy Scout, as they instead look to switch their attention to the recently announced Supergirl movie.
The initial report on this is that with Supergirl set to centre on a teenage superheroine, that would essentially remove Superman from the equation as he’d be an infant. We guess it depends on just how far back you’re going, though.
For those unaware, Kara Zor-El/Supergirl is actually older than Kal-El/Superman when Krypton goes kaput. Both sent on their respective paths to Earth, Kara’s trip takes just a tad while longer – meaning that when she does crash-land on Earth, Kal is now a fully-grown adult going by the moniker of Superman.
If Supergirl is to feature a Kara young enough to make Kal merely an infant or young child, we guess that kind of means the picture would have to be set pre-Krypton’s explosion. Well, unless some sort of creative license is taken. Anyways, we’re giving ourselves a headache – but the crux of the matter seems be that the plans for a cinematic Supergirl is what’s caused Warners to take their focus off Henry Cavill and his Man of Tomorrow.
To allude on what we opened with, fans were finally given the Superman they’d be yearning for by the time the hero was resurrected in the so-so Justice League. After Man of Steel and Batman v Superman struggled to grasp the fundamentals of what make Superman the greatest shining light in the comic book world, Justice League gave us a Supes who was note-perfect. And now, faster than a speeding bullet, it looks as if that is the last we’ll see of this incarnation of the character.
With Warner Brothers looking at rejigging/resetting their DC Extended Universe, it appears as if their Man of Steel is going to be another victim of this shake-up – much like Ben Affleck’s time in the cape ‘n’ cowl of Batman look numbered. As has been discussed before in great detail, it could well be that the 2020 solo movie for Ezra Miller’s Flash is used to change the DCEU or to even incorporate an alternative timeline.
Expect more on all of this as we get it.
