Last fall’s announcement that James Gunn and Peter Safran would become co-CEOs of DC studios was met with some aversion by some DC fans. On December 7th, Deadline reported that Patty Jenkins’ Wonder Woman 3 would not be happening.
On December 20th, Dwayne Johnson announced on Instagram that “…Black Adam will not be in their first chapter of storytelling.” Perhaps the most controversial was when fans learned a few days before that Henry Cavil would not return as Superman.
“I have just had a meeting with James Gunn and Peter Safran and it’s sad news, everyone,” Cavil wrote on an Instagram post. “I will, after all, not be returning as Superman. After being told by the studio to announce my return back in October, prior to their hire, this news isn’t the easiest, but that’s life. The changing of the guard is something that happens. I respect that. James and Peter have a universe to build. I wish them and all involved with the new universe the best of luck, and the happiest of fortunes.”
Despite the seemingly unruffled departure, fans were unhappy, and rumors spewed that Gunn and Safran fired Cavil.
Per Deadline, we have James Gunn directly addressing this:
“We didn’t fire Henry. Henry was never cast. He was in a cameo, and that was the end of his story.”
“A lot of people made assumptions which weren’t true,” Gunn said, “But for me, it’s about who do I want to cast as Superman and who do the filmmakers want to cast.”
Concerning Gunn’s Superman Legacy, he said, “For me, for this story, it isn’t Henry. I like Henry. He’s a great guy. I think he’s gotten dicked around by a lot of people, including former regimes of this company. But this Superman isn’t Henry for a number of reasons.”
In addition to the rumors about Cavil, many DC fans have also theorized that Jason Momoa, who is playing Aquaman in Aquaman and the Lost Kingdom, could possibly play Lobo, a villain from the comics, in the new DC universe.
To this, Gunn said, “I will say we won’t have an actor playing two different roles.”
Gunn and Safran also commented that Robert Pattinson’s Batman would be separate from the newly announced Batman and Robin movie. Pattinson will continue to play Batman in Matt Reeves’ Batman II while a new actor will be pursued for the role of the Dark Knight in the Batman and Robin movie.
Per Deadline, Safran and Gunn also commented on Ezra Miller, who recently pleaded guilty to misdemeanor.
“Ezra is completely committed to their recovery,” Safran said. “We’re fully supportive of that journey that they’re on right now.”
“When the time is right,” Gunn joined in, “when they feel they are ready to have the discussion, we’ll all figure out what the best way forward is. But right now, they are completely focused on their recovery.”
Speaking more broadly on the future of other actors, Safran said, “There’s no reasons why all the people you mentioned, couldn’t be part of the DCU, we just haven’t decided what the story is that we want to tell that incorporates Shazam or Aquaman.”
This potentially opens up the floor to the return of actors and actresses like Gal Gadot and Dwyane Johnson, whether or not they would be playing the same characters they played priorly.
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