Superman | July 11, 2025 | James Gunn writing and directing | David Corenswet is Clark, Rachel Brosnahan is Lois

[CJohn]

On 12/20/2022 at 11:48 AM, grim22 said:

I have no insight into personal managerial relationships.

 

Remind me on Feb 18 2023 and I will provide a complete timeline including what exactly went down around Comic Con which is something literally no trade or otherwise has even mentioned, with really good reason why they haven't mentioned it. It's the most stupid exclusive I know, and trust me it's very very very stupid that it even happened.

I am here @grim22 . Give me the juicy details.

[robertman2]

Tell us!

[WittyUsername]

Apparently, Gunn has recently implied that the new Superman won’t be as young as we thought he’d be (25). That makes me inclined to believe that Cavill really was let go because Zaslav thought he was too expensive. 

[cax16]

8 minutes ago, WittyUsername said:

Apparently, Gunn has recently implied that the new Superman won’t be as young as we thought he’d be (25). That makes me inclined to believe that Cavill really was let go because Zaslav thought he was too expensive. 

Lol, way to make assumptions. Gunn already said Superman will be under 40 so why would they want to use Cavill who is already 39? 

 

I doubt Cavill is even that expensive, Gunn obviously has a vision for his Superman and Cavill doesn’t fit that unfortunately, probably be someone in the 25-30 range.  

 

[WittyUsername]

2 minutes ago, cax16 said:

Lol, way to make assumptions. Gunn already said Superman will be under 40 so why would they want to use Cavill who is already 39? 

 

I doubt Cavill is even that expensive, Gunn obviously has a vision for his Superman and Cavill doesn’t fit that unfortunately, probably be someone in the 25-30 range.  

 

I’m making an assumption because a Superman in his 30s doesn’t strike me as being very far off from a Superman who’s just barely in his 40s. When it was initially announced that they would be looking for a younger Superman, the assumption was that they wanted a Superman who was still green and in his mid-20s, which Cavill obviously wouldn’t be able to play.
 

If Gunn’s Superman is going to be an experienced hero who’s past his 20s though, then that kind of begs the question of why they’d even bother looking for a new actor. It’s not like Henry Cavill is geriatric. Sure, he’s turning 40 this year, but unless Superman is meant to be particularly young, that shouldn’t really matter much. 
 

For the record, I’m simply going off a rumor I remember hearing a couple of months ago. I’m not saying it’s true. I’m merely saying that if they aren’t going for an especially young Superman, then that makes me more inclined to believe that rumor is true, especially given all the reports about how starved for cash WBD is. 

[cax16]

1 minute ago, WittyUsername said:

I’m making an assumption because a Superman in his 30s doesn’t strike me as being very far off from a Superman who’s just barely in his 40s. When it was initially announced that they would be looking for a younger Superman, the assumption was that they wanted a Superman who was still green and in his mid-20s, which Cavill obviously wouldn’t be able to play.
 

If Gunn’s Superman is going to be an experienced hero who’s past his 20s though, then that kind of begs the question of why they’d even bother looking for a new actor. It’s not like Henry Cavill is geriatric. Sure, he’s turning 40 this year, but unless Superman is meant to be particularly young, that shouldn’t really matter much. 
 

For the record, I’m simply going off a rumor I remember hearing a couple of months ago. I’m not saying it’s true. I’m merely saying that if they aren’t going for an especially young Superman, then that makes me more inclined to believe that rumor is true, especially given all the reports about how starved for cash WBD is. 

I just don’t think Cavill in demanding that much money, he literally has zero leverage. I think Zaslav has shown he’s fine spending on things, just look at the flash superbowl ad. To him it’s about spending it in the areas he thinks are gonna reap the most benefits for the company(and himself).

 

With respects to Gunns Superman I still think he’s gonna cast someone in the 25-30 range. He just said on Twitter major casting announcements will be coming in the next 6 months so I assume we’ll know soon. I hope they save it all and do a huge SDCC panel. 

[WittyUsername]

12 minutes ago, cax16 said:

I just don’t think Cavill in demanding that much money, he literally has zero leverage. I think Zaslav has shown he’s fine spending on things, just look at the flash superbowl ad. To him it’s about spending it in the areas he thinks are gonna reap the most benefits for the company(and himself).

 

With respects to Gunns Superman I still think he’s gonna cast someone in the 25-30 range. He just said on Twitter major casting announcements will be coming in the next 6 months so I assume we’ll know soon. I hope they save it all and do a huge SDCC panel. 

Well, supposedly, the reason the previous regime decided to cut ties with Cavill was because they found his demands unreasonable. I think it’s possible that Cavill’s agents may have tried to argue that he should get paid a certain amount of money that Zaslav thought wasn’t worth it. I’m not saying I know it for a fact. It’s just a fun little thing to speculate about. 
 

Of course, assuming that Superman will be in the 25-30 range, then that would be a different story entirely, although that would beg the question of why Gunn even bothered clarifying “I never said he was going to be 25” on Twitter. 
 

Anyway, count me as someone who would love for @grim22 to provide us the details. 

 

Edited February 18, 2023 by WittyUsername

[cax16]

5 minutes ago, WittyUsername said:

Well, supposedly, the reason the previous regime decided to cut ties with Cavill was because they found his demands unreasonable. I think it’s possible that Cavill’s agents may have tried to argue that he should get paid a certain amount of money that Zaslav thought wasn’t worth it. I’m not saying I know it for a fact. It’s just a fun little thing to speculate about. 
 

Of course, assuming that Superman will be in the 25-30 range, then that would be a different story entirely, although that would beg the question of why Gunn even bothered clarifying “I never said he was going to be 25” on Twitter. 
 

Anyway, count me as someone who would love for @grim22 to provide us the details. 

 

100% they did that and I assume that’s why he has a different agent now. Life comes at you fast when you try to make demands and have no leverage. I think that all happened long before Zaslav came, they tried to leverage the studio for that Shazam cameo and in the end the studio decided to use Supergirl instead as we see in the flash. 

[WittyUsername]

2 minutes ago, cax16 said:

100% they did that and I assume that’s why he has a different agent now. Life comes at you fast when you try to make demands and have no leverage. I think that all happened long before Zaslav came, they tried to leverage the studio for that Shazam cameo and in the end the studio decided to use Supergirl instead as we see in the flash. 

I would have to imagine that Zaslav would’ve been a lot more likely to give in to whatever demands Cavill may have had if Black Adam hadn’t flopped. As it stands, you’re right about Cavill having no leverage, although that brief period where it seemed like he was back in the role might’ve given him the false impression that he really was in a position to bargain with WBD. 

[cax16]

2 minutes ago, WittyUsername said:

I would have to imagine that Zaslav would’ve been a lot more likely to give in to whatever demands Cavill may have had if Black Adam hadn’t flopped. As it stands, you’re right about Cavill having no leverage, although that brief period where it seemed like he was back in the role might’ve given him the false impression that he really was in a position to bargain with WBD. 

Agreed and I do feel bad for him but what can you do. I’m sure he’ll be fine. 

[excel1]

I'll believe this will be Jacob Elordi until the moment someone else is cast. Or they could use Josh Hartnett with the deaging technology. 

[YM!]

23 minutes ago, excel1 said:

I'll believe this will be Jacob Elordi until the moment someone else is cast. Or they could use Josh Hartnett with the deaging technology. 

What if they clone Hartnett as a baby and then rapidly age the clone for the right age to play Superman? 🤔 

[grim22]

3 hours ago, CJohn said:

I am here @grim22 . Give me the juicy details.

On my phone and about 1000+ miles away from my computer and the slack messages which go into this, so will try my best to give as much detail and can fill in the rest whenever I get back to my laptop post this extended weekend.

 

So why February 18? Well, my team was part of the XFL relaunch, which part exactly I can't tell you because that will be easy to trace back. So there was a lot of communication with Seven Bucks productions working closely with individuals who have ties to both football and to the movie side of things. Now that the XFL is launched again, the NDAs are up.

 

I'll tell you what I'm stating is fact and what is my opinion.

 

So here goes

 

1. Cavill was never signed up for Superman appearances. Literally never since the THR story from 5 years ago. So all the "scoops" and even trade articles from Deadline and stuff were complete BS. How do I know? Well, it's one of the first things I tried to find out and got confirmation on.

 

2. Black Adam always had a Superman cameo, but it was more along the lines of Shazam than a Superman you could see. The movie ended the same way with a Superman emerging from the shadows but we cut to The Rock before we see who is Superman.

 

Opinion: The Rock has always wanted to fight Superman on film, regardless of which character he would play as evidenced by him campaigning for John Stewart using the hashtag #JohnStewartCanStillWhupSupermansAss

 

3. there was no plan for WB to appear at SDCC 2022, it was put together only because The Rock demanded it. They were in a transition mode and didn't want to commit to a SDCC presentation

 

4. Cavill and his team had reached out to WB over the years about Superman with varying levels of interest depending on who was in charge. The Rock frankly didn't care and could take it or leave it with Cavill. From what I gather, he never pushed hard for Cavill over the years. He just wanted a Superman, could be anyone.

 

5. There was ZERO movement towards any Cavill appearance at SDCC, literally zero. No one had reached out to him, no contracts in place, no plan to have him in Black Adam.

 

6. The rumor over SDCC became so loud that it was the only thing The Rock was asked about that weekend. From what I heard "It's tiring that the only thing people care about is Cavill appearing in Black Adam which is just not true" 

 

Opinion: I think the loud rumor is what led to The Rock pulling his weight and getting Cavill signed for a cameo contract because people weren't interested in Black Adam much before that point

 

 

7. Now to the big point, where did the rumor originate? Are you ready for the single dumbest thing you may ever hear? So Deadline has a tips site where anyone can submit an anonymous tip about the entertainment industry goings on. It's located here: https://deadline.com/got-a-tip/

 

They got an anonymous tip that Cavill will be at SDCC as Superman. Now you might be asking - "so was the tip accompanied by any evidence or documents or anything?". Nope. Based on what I know from people who saw the tip, the tip literally only said "Cavill will appear at SDCC as Superman". From: Anon.

 

That's the entire extent of the "huge buzz around Cavill appearing". One random anon tip which no one knows where or whom it originated from. But I can tell you it didn't originate from Seven Bucks, didn't originate from WB and didn't originate from Cavill's camp. So my best guess - it was a random fan throwing a wish into the universe.

 

8. Freaking deadline runs with that anon tip and pretty much overshadows everything over SDCC. The Rock gets scared, gets Cavill onboard for discussions with Hamada's bosses and him and Hiram Garcia sell them a plan for a movie arc with Black Adam, a Black Adam vs Superman movie, and eventually a movie with the Justice League taking on Black Adam who has gone crazy because the kid from Black Adam is killed.

 

9. Seven Bucks is really angling hard to become the stewards of DC and everyone is waiting on the release of Black Adam to see if that's going to happen

 

10. Cavill gets his cameo and gets a contract for 3 more cameos afaik. I'm guessing Flash, Supergirl and something else. He also gets a commitment to develop a new Superman movie without any assurance it will get made

 

11. Black Adam screens for critics, reactions are very mixed, the last hope is the opening weekend, so they pretty much start leaking the Cavill appearance. Was a fun time on the Seven Bucks slack - everyone just running around trying to goose the box office take

 

12. Black Adam releases, doesn't do great but actually does better than expectations internally. Not enough for WB or Seven Bucks though. 

 

13. Garcia and Seven Bucks no longer in consideration to run DC. Gunn and Safran announced.

 

14. At this point, I drop off from the project since we have done our jobs and no longer have visibility into the goings on 

 

So there you have it, the single dumbest exclusive I know. The entire entertainment news industry is a sham.

[cax16]

Thank god that plan didn’t work, I don’t care about the rock staying on but his team running the dc side of things with their track record of movie making? No thanks. 

[cookie]

1 hour ago, grim22 said:

7. Now to the big point, where did the rumor originate? Are you ready for the single dumbest thing you may ever hear? So Deadline has a tips site where anyone can submit an anonymous tip about the entertainment industry goings on. It's located here: https://deadline.com/got-a-tip/

 

They got an anonymous tip that Cavill will be at SDCC as Superman. Now you might be asking - "so was the tip accompanied by any evidence or documents or anything?". Nope. Based on what I know from people who saw the tip, the tip literally only said "Cavill will appear at SDCC as Superman". From: Anon.

 

That's the entire extent of the "huge buzz around Cavill appearing". One random anon tip which no one knows where or whom it originated from. But I can tell you it didn't originate from Seven Bucks, didn't originate from WB and didn't originate from Cavill's camp. So my best guess - it was a random fan throwing a wish into the universe.

 

8. Freaking deadline runs with that anon tip and pretty much overshadows everything over SDCC. The Rock gets scared, gets Cavill onboard for discussions with Hamada's bosses and him and Hiram Garcia sell them a plan for a movie arc with Black Adam, a Black Adam vs Superman movie, and eventually a movie with the Justice League taking on Black Adam who has gone crazy because the kid from Black Adam is killed.

 

Really makes you wonder just how much trade "buzz" are in fact one-sentence tips from online randos with no evidence attached. Insanity.

Edited February 19, 2023 by cookie

[WittyUsername]

Scoopers did state last Summer that there was going to be another headless Superman cameo in Black Adam, which would’ve been pretty lame. 

[excel1]

Black Adams $67m opening weekend was quite good. A better film would  have sealed the deal.

[excel1]

13 hours ago, YM! said:

What if they clone Hartnett as a baby and then rapidly age the clone for the right age to play Superman? 🤔 

 

Can we give it the brain/acting skills of Marlon Brando?

[WittyUsername]

2 hours ago, excel1 said:

Black Adams $67m opening weekend was quite good. A better film would  have sealed the deal.

The movie honestly did better than it had any right to, especially without China and Russia. It was just too damn expensive for its good. 

[cax16]

 

Edited February 19, 2023 by cax16