DC Studios CEO James Gunn provided a bizarre explanation for the decision to not have Henry Cavill continue as Superman following his cameo as the character in Black Adam.
In a wide-ranging expose discussing Gunn and Peter Safran’s upcoming slate for the DCU, Gunn also addressed the decision to not have Cavill continue as Superman.
He told The Hollywood Reporter (THR), “We didn’t fire Henry. Henry was never cast.”
“For me, it’s about who do I want to cast as Superman and who do the filmmakers we have want to cast. And for me, for this story, it isn’t Henry,” Gunn explained.
Interestingly, Gunn indicated that Jason Momoa as Aquaman, Zachary Levi as Shazam, Ezra Miller as Barry Allen, and Xolo Maridueña as Jamie Reyes aka Blue Beetle could potentially continue on in their roles in Gunn’s new vision for DCU.
He said, “There is nothing that prohibits that from happening.”
Gunn would also address rumors that he doesn’t like Cavill. Those rumors surfaced from YouTuber Den of Nerds, who claimed on Twitter, “James Gunn does not like Henry Cavill.”
Gunn retorted on Twitter, “Sure: False.”
However, Den of Nerds wasn’t buying Gunn’s statement and responded, “Even more ppl have reached out to me since you said this to tell me you really don’t like him. Just saying what I heard.”
Gunn then decided to insult him, “So weird. You seemed so plugged in! Anyway, I just had forty people reach out to me to say you just got kicked out of your Mom’s basement. So sorry, man.”
Gunn told THR, “I like Henry, I think he’s a great guy. I think he’s getting dicked around by a lot of people, including the former regime at this company. But this Superman is not Henry, for a number of reasons.”
Gunn didn’t explain what those reasons are, but he previously indicated it was due to his age. When asked why Cavill was getting recast as Superman, Gunn told one Twitter user, “As I said yesterday, it is very simple, he’s a different age.”
Gunn also appeared to address a recent comment he made claiming that he was looking for actors that are “easy to work with.”
Responding to a Twitter user expressing their opinion that Gunn should not use members of the Guardians of the Galaxy in the DCU, Gunn said, “We have hundreds of roles to cast. As I’ve always done, some will be brand new faces, some will be actors I’ve worked with before, [and] some will be actors you know who I’ve never worked with. What matters most is the actor fits the role & they’re easy to work with.”
When asked about how he plans to deal with actors who step in “controversy” such as Shazam!’s Zachary Levi, who recently claimed the pharmaceutical company Pfizer is a danger to the world, Gunn told THR, “Actors, filmmakers that I work with are going to say things that I agree with, and things that I don’t agree with.”
He added, “I can’t be changing my plans all the time because an actor says something that I don’t agree with. At the same token, if someone is doing something that is morally reprehensible, that’s a different story. And we have to take that into account.”
It’s unclear what Gunn considers morally reprehensible given his past actions and tweets that referenced child rape and pedophilia. As The Chosen actor Jonathan Roumie recently noted much of what comes out of Hollywood is actually morally reprehensible.
Roumie said during a speech at the March for Life, “In the last several years there’s been a sharp and disturbing increase in the darkness of the imagery being used in film, television, and music. The landscape has become increasingly sinister.”
“And in some cases, even demonic in tone,” he added. “More so than in previous years. Sometimes subliminal. Oftentimes overt. Storylines involving the occult, witchcraft, demons, and even Satanic elements are commonplace in mainstream programming. Many feature spiritually and psychologically disturbing content.”
What do you make of Gunn’s comments about Cavill and how he will deal with actors and filmmakers that step in “controversy?”