It is now over a year sinceJames Gunnand Peter Safran laid out the first details of their plans for the new DCU franchise, and Gunn is still fending off rumors and conspiracy theories around the events that sawHenry Cavillleaving the franchise to be replaced by a new incoming cast led by David Corenswet.
The arrival ofBlack Adamin October 2022 sparked a new belief that Henry Cavill would be making a big return to the DCEU witha cameo appearance that set up a future face-offwith Dwayne Johnson’s anti-hero. However, behind the scenes, plans were already taking shape for a whole new regime to take the reins of the franchise that had never quite managed to find its feet following the departure of Zack Snyder in the middle of theJustice Leagueshoot.
Written and directed by James Gunn, Superman is the first movie in Warner Bros.' rebooted DC Universe to center around the titular comic book hero. It introduces a new version of the Man of Steel after Henry Cavill’s departure from the role, honoring the character’s roots as “the embodiment of truth, justice and the American way.”
Although it quickly became apparent that Cavill’s new Superman story was never going to fly, Gunn has once again been countering the belief that he was the one who decided Cavill’s fate, and furthermore, that he knew itwhen he helmedThe Suicide Squad. Replying to a post on hisThreadsaccount in which he was accused of lying to fans when asked about possibly making a Superman movie while at the premiere ofThe Suicide Squad, Gunn said:
“I don’t quite understand how that fits. Aside from the fact I had no interest in running DC until Peter decided to do it with me so he could do the exec stuff & I could focus on creative, when I was hired to write Superman it was always intended as & pitched as a new Superman story, so why would I lie about not planning that at the Squad premiere which would have amounted to the same thing at the end of the day? How does this particular conspiracy theory make sense?”
James Gunn Has Recently Shut Down Another Conspiracy About Old Projects
As someone who often interacts with fans via his social media accounts, James Gunn spends a lot of his time reacting to the wild and often inaccurate accusations leveled at him, or others working behind the scenes on the DC franchise. Recently, Gunn responded to a query suggesting that theoriginalGreen Lanternseriesthat was in development before Gunn and Safran took over was “done dirty.”
Asked what happened to the series, which was set to star Finn Wittrock among others and would have included several Lanterns from the history of the character, Gunn replied:
“I didn’t think it was in the DCEU, but it was before my time. That said, I think Finn’s a [talented] boy and he’ll be okay! Writers, directors, actors have projects fall through every day. We’ve all had it happen many times. It’s not being “done dirty,” it’s part of the job.”
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This is very similar in many ways toCavill’s departure from the franchisedespite the glimmer of hope thatBlack Adamcreated with last minute post-credits scene. The changes happening behind the scenes were already in motion whenBlack Adamdebuted, but there was nothing about the transition that involved Gunn directly letting Cavill go, as this was already part of the plan before he agreed to become joint CEO of DC Studios.
The end result is that Cavill was always heading out of the franchise, and it seems that no matter how many more conspiracies are conjured up to try and contradict the timeline of events that led up to his official exit, Gunn is quite happy to keep debunking them. With just over a year until Corenswet makes his debut as the new Superman, there is still a while for him to do that a few more times.
Supermanwill debut in cinemas on June 18, 2025.
