Henry Cavill Won't Be Returning As Superman

Barely two months after Henry Cavill announced he would be returning to the role of Superman, subsequently stepping back from Netflix's The Witcher series, the actor has shared that he won't be returning to play the DC superhero, actually. The news comes as James Gunn announced his first Superman project, which would focus on the hero in his younger years.

In his first big move since stepping up to lead DC's cinematic universe James Gunn will be writing a Superman prequel film that will follow a young Clark Kent during his time as a Daily Planet reporter, according to The Hollywood Reporter.

"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," Gunn explained. "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."

The news was confirmed by Cavill in an Instagram post, who expressed disappointment about the decision, noting he had been "told by the studio to announce my return back in October, prior to their hire." Cavill's version of the meeting sounds a little more conclusive, with the actor saying that he "will, after all, not be returning as Superman."

The news will come as a disappointment to fans who were expecting to see Cavill return as Superman in the near future, after he appeared in the post-credit scene for Black Adam.