[UPDATE (as of 4 June): A spokesperson has reached out to deny this claim. The Wrap, who broke the news, has updated their story.]
(original article as follows)
The Man of Steel, starring Henry Cavill, could have gotten another solo outing on the silver screen, but the onboarding of James Gunn and Peter Safran as DC Studios co-heads put an end to the idea.
Per The Wrap, Warner Bros. Pictures chiefs Mike De Luca and Pam Abdy were considering a “standalone Henry Cavill-led Superman film going in 2022,” with Transformers helmer Michael Bay, who has never done a straight-up superhero movie before, in the director’s chair. While it’s unclear how far the deal went, the project was reportedly meant to be straightforward and without the entanglements that follow tie-ins, crossovers, or multiverse productions.
The discussion took place between the departure of the previous head, Walter Hamada, and the induction of Gunn and Safran. In the same year, Cavill would step down as the titular superhero and set his sights on other franchise deals, including a live-action Voltron film adaptation, a Warhammer 40K series for Amazon, and a reboot of the 1986 classic Highlander.
As for Bay, the filmmaker is set to debut his first-ever documentary, We Are Storror, at the 2025 SXSW (pronounced ‘South by Southwest’) festival. Next on his agenda list are Netflix’s action title Fast and Loose, which will reunite him with Bad Boys star Will Smith, and a film adaptation of the classic arcade title OutRun starring Sydney Sweeney.
But first, all eyes are on Gunn’s upcoming Superman movie. This time, David Corenswet (Twisters, Pearl) is donning the cape, with Rachel Brosnahan (The Marvelous Mrs. Maisel) and Nicholas Hoult (the X-Men films) playing Lois Lane and Lex Luthor, respectively.
The superhero flick is one of the six live-action big-screen projects planned for Chapter One of the rebooted cinematic universe, followed by Supergirl: Woman of Tomorrow in June 2026, Clayface in September 2026, The Authority (TBA), The Brave and the Bold, and Swamp Thing. It hits theatres on 10 July.
Si Jia is a casual geek at heart – or as casual as someone with Sephiroth’s theme on her Spotify playlist can get. A fan of movies, games, and Japanese culture, Si Jia’s greatest weakness is the Steam Summer Sale. Or any Steam sale, really.
Kevin Low
Yonk
