In 2018, Disney fired James Gunn when a series of offensive past Tweets resurfaced. With fans, and Guardians of the Galaxy Vol. 3's A-list cast, heavily criticising the decision, Warner Bros. wasted no time enlisting the filmmaker's services.
That led to Gunn helming 2021's The Suicide Squad. While he'd eventually return to Marvel Studios to finish the Guardians trilogy, Gunn's newfound relationship with the rival studio led to him eventually being appointed DC Studios co-CEO.
It's no secret that Warner Bros. offered Gunn a Superman movie before The Suicide Squad, but it wouldn't have been Man of Steel 2...or a movie starring Henry Cavill. Here's an excerpt from a recent Entertainment Weekly article:
Warner Bros. initially offered Gunn 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,' Gunn says. But more importantly, he adds, 'I didn't have that special idea of what that [film] would be.'
This lines up with various reports claiming that Cavill had quietly been fired from the role of Superman after refusing to make a cameo appearance in 2019's Shazam!.
It wasn't until Dwayne "The Rock" Johnson went over his employers' heads to bring Cavill back for 2022's Black Adam that Warner Bros.' hand was forced, and Cavill was tapped to appear in The Flash and a potential Man of Steel follow-up. That never came to fruition, and when Gunn took over, he immediately decided to recast Superman's title role.
As for what that "special idea" ended up being, Gunn noted, "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."
"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," he added.
Cavill's time as Superman came to an unceremonious end, and he didn't shy away from expressing his disappointment with Gunn's decision. However, he got to take another crack at a superhero with his unforgettable cameo as "The Cavillrine" in Deadpool & Wolverine.
Superman arrives in theaters on July 11, 2025.