James Gunn Confirms WB Wanted to Replace Henry Cavill as Superman Before THE SUICIDE SQUAD

James Gunn has confirmed a long-rumored bit of DC drama, one that predates even The Suicide Squad. According to Gunn, Warner Bros. had already decided they wanted a new Superman before he ever joined the DC Universe.

In a new interview with Entertainment Weekly, Gunn confirmed, "Warner Bros. initially offered [me] Superman prior to directing 2021's The Suicide Squad, back in the previous era of DC storytelling.

“Even then, before plans were firmly in place, the studio wanted a new actor to play Superman after Cavill, so it was even more messy than it is now." He added, "But more importantly, I didn’t have that special idea of what that [film] would be."

This tracks with earlier reports suggesting Cavill had already been quietly pushed out after declining a cameo in 2019’s Shazam!. It wasn’t until Dwayne Johnson went rogue to bring Cavill back for Black Adam in 2022 that WB was forced to play ball. His surprise mid-credits cameo reignited fan hope, but only briefly.

When Gunn officially took over as co-head of DC Studios, he didn’t just inherit the chaos, he cleared the board. Cavill was out, and a new era was in.

Gunn said the right idea finally came to him. "Over the years, the stories that I've told have gotten more… how to say it… less in your face. I wanted to tell the story about someone who was truly good in a world that doesn't value goodness, in a world that makes fun of basic kindness and basic human values."

He continued, "The fact that he can fly and lift buildings and shoot laser beams out of his eyes was really secondary to who he was as a person and what he stood for."

Gunn’s Superman, set to hit theaters on July 11, 2025, won’t just reboot the character, it’s meant to reshape the foundation of the DC Universe itself.