On a recent appearance on Josh Horowitz’s Happy Sad Confused podcast, James Gunn shed details about the confusing sequence of events that led to Henry Cavill’s return as Superman and subsequent announcement that he would no longer return two months later. As Gunn explained, Warner Bros haphazardly announced Cavill’s return as Superman as Gunn and his co-CEO, Peter Safran, were first beginning their discussions to become the new heads of DC Studios. Here’s Gunn’s full quote recalling the situation.

“We were dealing with trying to figure out if we could take the job at DC Studios, and we’re talking to David Zaslav and all the legal people there, and figuring out what our deals would be. And the day our deal closed, all of a sudden they were announcing that Henry was back.”

Gunn also explained that he was surprised by the news, saying, “I’m like, what is going on? Like, we know what the plan is, the plan was to come in and do Superman,” referring to the early development of what would become Superman, starring David Corenswet. He also explained that he felt bad for Cavill, who was put at the center of the very confusing situation, saying: “That was really unfortunate, I’m like, this poor guy. And so Peter [Safran] and I [knew] the right thing to do is to sit down with [Cavill] and talk to him.” Gunn also details Cavill’s reaction to the news that he wouldn’t return as Superman, saying: “And we sat down, we talked to him, he was an absolute gentleman, a great guy about it. He said, ‘The only thing I ask is that I’m able to reveal it myself as opposed to it coming from you guys.'”

Gunn said of Cavill’s reaction that “it was really unfair to him and was a total bummer,” and that there were outside influences who “wanted to take on what they wanted to do at DC and were trying to force their way, and it just was never a part of the equation.”

James Gunn’s Superman, starring David Corenswet, and the first in the new DC Universe, is currently playing in theaters.