When Warner Bros. and Henry Cavill couldn't reach a deal over Superman's Shazam! cameo, that appeared to be it for the British actor's time as the Man of Steel.
A headless stunt double was used in his place and the DCEU moved on without him until Black Adam rolled around. Thanks to Dwayne Johnson's influence, Cavill was brought back into the fold and he even got to shoot a cameo role for The Flash. That ended up on the cutting room floor when DC Studios was formed and the Justice League star was fired all over again.
Before Cavill was re-hired, news broke that Star Wars: The Rise of Skywalker helmer J.J. Abrams and writer Ta-Nehisi Coates had been taped to develop a new Superman movie featuring a Black Kal-El.
From the start, the idea had been for the untitled project to take place in a separate reality, with the story rumoured to be a period piece which explored the impact of a Black Superman in America at the height of the civil rights movement.
Answering fan questions on Threads, DC Studios co-CEO and Superman: Legacy director James Gunn confirmed that, "yes," the movie is still in the works.
He didn't elaborate on those comments but this lines up with what he said last year. "[Superman: Legacy and Abrams' Superman movie] are totally unrelated," he explained. "That’s an exciting movie. I know that Chantal Nong, who is the executive on that project, is extremely excited about it."
"So if it comes in and it’s great, which I haven’t read the script, and if the timing is right, that could absolutely happen. That’s totally unrelated. It would be an Elseworlds tale like Joker."
It appears DC Studios will have the final say on the project and if Coates is no closer to finishing a screenplay, this could be another of those superhero movies that simply never becomes a reality. Very little has ever really been said about his and Abrams' plans, though the latter did say in 2021, "I will not be directing that movie, but I can't begin to express how excited we are for that project."
That came following reports that Warner Bros. execs had decided his being at the helm would be in bad taste.
Considering the fact none of Abrams' DC projects came to fruition (and now won't thanks to the DCU reboot), something tells us this take on Superman won't ever see the light of day. That's a shame given the potential this story has; we've also heard nothing about Michael B. Jordan's Calvin Ellis TV series.
Stay tuned for updates.