Why Henry Cavill had to be replaced as Superman as new film breaks records

For the first time in 12 years we have a brand new Superman on the big screen, with David Corenswet becoming the latest actor to don the cape.

The new film, simply titled Superman, has been a hit with audiences – leading to a Rotten Tomatoes record being set by the reboot.

Despite this though, many will be left wondering why Henry Cavill hasn’t been brought back for another go as the Man of Steel.

This question becomes particularly important for those who remember Cavill posting to Instagram in 2022 announcing that, following a cameo in Black Adam, he would be returning to the role of Superman.

Just two short months later, news broke that he was out as Superman after James Gunn and Peter Safran were named co-CEOs of DC Studios.

Whilst many know the ins and outs of what led to Cavill announcing his return and then retracting it after being told this would not be the case, many will be wondering specifically why they decided not to go with Cavill’s version of the character for the newest film.

It’s an incredibly valid question – Man of Steel made nearly $700 million at the box office and, while Batman v Superman: Dawn of Justice arguably underperformed with a take of over $875 million, it still made a mountain of cash for DC.

On top of this, Zach Snyder’s DC universe developed a cult following of fans that were huge fans in particular of Cavill's Superman.

Unfortunately, while both Superman-led films did well at the box office, they were not massive critical successes.

Man of Steel was a big success, but DC decided against bringing Cavill back (Warner Brothers)

This continued to the critically panned Justice League film, eventually leading to massive box office flops for DC in Black Adam, Shazam! Fury of the Gods, and the last DC film before the current reboot The Flash.

The decision was ultimately made to hire Safran and Gunn to help reboot the DC film universe, with higher-ups impressed by the critical praise for Gunn’s The Suicide Squad.

When rebooting the universe, Gunn decided to go with a younger Superman in the earlier years of his superhero-ing, something which didn’t match 40-year-old Cavill.

In addition to this, Gunn spoke about how he wanted the new Superman film to be ‘mostly a story that says basic human kindness is a value and is something we have lost’.

David Corenswet's Clark Kent is far more comic-accurate than the Cavill version of the character (Warner Brothers)

Whilst Cavill’s version of the Man of Steel was undeniably kind, his morals were far more conflicted than the version Gunn has decided to go with.

In essence, Cavill’s version of the character simply did not fit with Gunn’s vision and brought with it the baggage of a failed attempt to compete with Marvel’s MCU.

In Superman, however, all signs are pointing towards Gunn having succeeded.

The film has opened to a score of 83% on Rotten Tomatoes with a record high fan score of 96% and projected to earn $200 million in its opening weekend.

William Bibbiani of The Wrap said of the film: “James Gunn tried to make a great Superman movie, one that embraces the wonder of the character as an action hero and a moral paragon, which derives its drama from how people react to his faith in us. He succeeded.”

Superman is available to watch in cinemas now.