Barely two months ago, Henry Cavill announced he was finally returning as Superman after years of speculation about his future as the character. Not even a week later, he dropped an equally huge bombshell that he was exiting The Witcher after Season 3. Surely, this meant the actor was about to have his hands full as the Man of Steel — or not so much.
On Wednesday evening, new DC Studios James Gunn chief confirmed swirling rumors that he’s planning to reboot some, if not all of the DC Cinematic Universe (formerly known as the DCEU) and move the franchise away from Zack Snyder’s ill-fated take on the classic characters. As part of that process, Gunn is personally writing a new Superman movie that will feature a younger version of the character who won’t be played by Cavill.
The actor also confirmed the news in an Instagram post where he voiced his frustration at the reversal following his Black Adam cameo, but he still had kind words for Gunn and DC Studios. Naturally, this information set off The Witcher fans who were also quite stunned to learn that Cavill walked away from the show only to get sacked by Warner Bros. The reactions started flying on Twitter, which you can see below:
I feel legitimately terrible for Henry Cavill. The dude leaves The Witcher after they butcher the source material, DC tells him he's finally back as Superman after YEARS of wanting to come back. Then gets this news a few months later. Just awful.
— Ryan Kinel – RK Outpost (@KinelRyan) December 15, 2022
Henry Cavill dropping the Witcher and then not being Superman anymore, rough times, hope he builds a new computer to work through it
— Jackson McHenry (@McHenryJD) December 15, 2022
So Henry Cavill is leaving the Witcher and we’re not getting him back as Superman either? pic.twitter.com/Oo0ikL8A5N
— Ashley K. (@AshleyKSmalls) December 15, 2022
Henry Cavill watching himself leave ‘The Witcher’ to play Superman
pic.twitter.com/ZP3DyZo5h0— Film Daze (@filmdaze) December 15, 2022
Wait so Henry Cavill quit the Witcher show that was basically the Henry Cavill Show in order to act in the new Superman movie but didn't actually get a commitment from the Superman movie people & now theyre not casting him woow anyway heres an agent with an opening for new client
— Shiv Ramdas Buk Riter (@nameshiv) December 15, 2022
Henry Cavill turning up to the Witcher set in full costume, pretending nothing happened, like George in that episode of Seinfeld. "What scene we doing today, then?"
— Andy Kelly (@ultrabrilliant) December 15, 2022
Henry Cavill loved The Witcher but he clearly wanted the studio to respect the book material and it must have disappointed him to see them mock it. He ended up eventually leaving it behind for Superman only for DC to drop him again within 2 months.
This man deserved better. pic.twitter.com/rkEr2uFTV4
— Maku (@TropicalMaku) December 15, 2022
Cavill realizing he left the witcher for nothing pic.twitter.com/fZwK9b9X3m
— Jacob Goldman (@jacobagoldman) December 15, 2022
Of course, it should be noted that there has not been a definitive reason for Cavill’s exit. While the Superman timing seemed to suggest that he left to return to the DC Comics fold, reports also started coming in that the actor had grown frustrated with the writing on the Netflix series. Cavill often spoke in interviews how he wanted the series to stay more faithful to The Witcher novels where Geralt is more of a philosopher. Instead, the Netflix series mostly featured him grunting and dropping perfectly timed f-bombs.
In other words, there’s a good chance Cavill would’ve left the show regardless of whether he was getting to slip back into his Superman tights or not.
