Superman director says DC fired Henry Cavill poorly

Gunn says Cavill was fired unfairly

James Gunn said the way Henry Cavill was removed from the Superman role was terrible. He explained this happened during the time he was closing his deal with DC Studios. Gunn said it was unfair and a total bummer for Cavill.

Gunn confirmed this in an interview on the Happy Sad Confused podcast. While Warner Bros. was announcing Cavill’s return, Gunn already knew he would be directing a new Superman movie without him. He said the decision was made before Cavill’s public return statement was released.

Cavill was told he was returning

Henry Cavill was told by Warner Bros. in October 2022 that he would be returning as Superman. He posted a video on Instagram announcing his return based on what the studio told him. This happened two months before Gunn and Safran were officially hired.

In December 2022, Cavill shared another video saying he would not return after all. He said the decision was hard, but he respected the new direction. Gunn said Cavill asked to share the news himself. Gunn agreed and said Cavill handled it respectfully during their meeting.

Gunn met Cavill to tell the truth

James Gunn said he had to sit down with Cavill and explain the real situation. Cavill had been told one thing, but the plan had already changed. Gunn said the Superman reboot never included Cavill’s return, and this had been known from the start.

Gunn recalled thinking it was unfair to Cavill. He said the announcement of Cavill’s return happened without a contract or agreement. The studio had not made any official deal with him. Gunn confirmed that he already had other plans for the Superman role at that point.

No official deal for Cavill existed

Gunn said Cavill did not have a deal in place with Warner Bros. when he posted that he was returning. The announcement was made by Cavill himself and was not supported by any press release or contract. This added to the overall confusion.

The day Cavill posted his return video was the same day Gunn’s deal with DC Studios was finalized. Gunn said he was confused about what was happening. He and Safran were already planning to cast a new Superman as part of the complete reboot.

Gunn’s Superman reboot already planned

James Gunn confirmed that the Superman reboot was already part of his agreement when he took over DC Studios. He and Peter Safran came in with a full plan that did not involve Cavill. The reboot was meant to start fresh with a new actor.

Gunn said there had been no official plans to include the previous DCEU cast. He explained that decisions were made before any public announcements by Cavill. He said this situation was created by a lack of clear communication inside the studio at the time.

DC Studios had leadership changes

Walter Hamada stepped down as head of DC Films just two days before Black Adam was released. After that, several people tried to push their ideas for the studio’s direction. Gunn said this created a leadership vacuum and confusion about DC’s future.

David Zaslav became the new CEO and began changing plans. Gunn said Zaslav was focused on starting over instead of continuing past stories. This leadership change was happening during the same time Cavill was making announcements without any confirmed studio backing or agreement.

Cavill’s cameo came from Johnson

Dwayne Johnson included a Cavill cameo in Black Adam even though DC leadership had advised against it. This cameo was meant to surprise fans and signal Cavill’s return. But it was not part of the studio’s long-term plan for the Superman character.

After the cameo, Black Adam struggled at the box office. Johnson and Cavill began pushing the return storyline to help the film. Cavill announced his comeback online, though Warner Bros. had not confirmed anything officially. The return announcement came without studio involvement.

Zaslav signed Gunn amid chaos

James Gunn revealed that the same day Cavill announced his return was the exact day Warner Bros. finalized Gunn’s deal to reboot DC Studios. While Cavill was sharing his Superman news online, Gunn was being hired to start a new Superman movie.

Gunn said the situation made no sense. CEO David Zaslav had already decided to restart the entire DC Universe and move away from the old plans. Gunn said Cavill’s announcement was not aligned with the new direction Zaslav was putting in place.

Gunn said Cavill never had sequel

Cavill first played Superman in 2013’s Man of Steel. He returned in Batman v Superman and Justice League, including Zack Snyder’s director’s cut in 2021. But he never got a full sequel during his time as the character in the DCEU.

His final appearance as Superman came in the 2022 film Black Adam. Gunn said Cavill was a great actor in the role but never got a great Superman movie. He also said Cavill was not part of the new story they were planning.

New Superman released July 11

James Gunn’s new Superman movie was released on July 11, 2025. David Corenswet played Superman, with Rachel Brosnahan as Lois Lane and Nicholas Hoult as Lex Luthor. The film opened at number one at the U.S. box office and received strong reviews.

This movie is the official start of the new DC Universe. It replaced the earlier DCEU films and introduced new versions of the characters. The movie also featured some new casting choices and did not include any actors from the previous Superman movies.

Bradley Cooper played Jor-El

In the new Superman film, Bradley Cooper played Superman’s birth father, Jor-El. Gunn said he picked Cooper because they had worked together on Guardians of the Galaxy. He also wanted someone younger than usual for the role of Kal-El’s father.

Angela Sarafyan played Lara Lor-Van, Superman’s mother. Gunn said Cooper was more age-appropriate than past versions, where the actor was usually in his 70s. He said Cooper did the role as a favor. Cooper previously voiced Rocket Raccoon in the Marvel movies.

Two credit scenes were included

Superman had two credit scenes. The mid-credit scene showed Superman holding Krypto while they sat together on the moon. This scene was similar to a poster released earlier that showed the same image of them in space, looking at Earth together.

The post-credit scene featured Mister Terrific and Superman. They examined a cracked building that had been repaired after a rift. Superman said it looked off, and Mister Terrific defended his work. The short scene ended with a small joke between the two heroes.

Scenes avoided teasing future movies

Gunn said he chose not to use the credit scenes to tease upcoming projects. He said many credit scenes from other superhero films don’t get finished or followed up. He wanted to avoid setting up anything that was not guaranteed to happen.

He said only confirmed projects should be referenced in post-credit scenes. Gunn said these two scenes were made just to give viewers something to enjoy after the movie. He did not want to repeat the problem of empty promises in superhero franchises.

Gunn compared to Marvel past

Gunn said Marvel also made post-credit scenes that never paid off. He mentioned Guardians of the Galaxy had funny scenes that people liked. He said some scenes were added just for fun, not to hint at new characters or future stories.

He said DC had made similar mistakes in the past. He gave the example of the Black Adam credit scene showing Cavill as Superman. That scene ended up meaning nothing because he was not returning. Gunn said he wanted to change that approach.

Anti-American views affected box office

Gunn said Superman earned $235 million in the U.S. and $171 million internationally. He said the movie had stronger domestic numbers but was growing overseas. Countries like Brazil and the U.K. had good weekday performance after the film’s release on July 11.

He said anti-American views in some places may have affected the international results. He also said Superman is not as well known globally compared to Batman. Gunn said it takes time for people to connect with the character and understand the new direction.

Fans are also buzzing about how the Superman teaser breaks records with 250M views in 24 hours.

Gunn explained Superman’s theme

Gunn said Superman was not meant to be political. He responded to critics who called it “SuperWoke.” He said the film was based on kindness, not politics. He mentioned that Superman’s creators were sons of immigrants, and the character was written as one.

He said kindness used to be seen as an American value. He believed that the value had faded. He said kindness affects everything from voting to road rage. Gunn said that message was central to the story. He did not make it about any agenda.

See why James Gunn revealed in July that Cavill learned in person that his comeback wasn’t moving forward as DC shifted to a new Superman.

Was Cavill done dirty by DC? Drop your thoughts in the comments.

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This slideshow was made with AI assistance and human editing.