Superman Star Henry Cavill Isn’t Contracted for The Flash or Another DC Movie: Report

Henry Cavill won’t be flying into The Flash. According to a new report, the Superman actor currently has no deal to reprise the role anywhere in the DC Extended Universe, including the now-filming Flash movie partnering a time-traveling Barry Allen (Ezra Miller) with the Batman (Ben Affleck) of his universe and the Dark Knight (Michael Keaton) of another dimension. There is a costumed Kryptonian assembling alongside Miller’s Flash and the multiverse Batmen, but it’s Supergirl (Sasha Calle) — portrayed in most media as the super-powered cousin of Superman’s Kal-El.

“He isn’t going to be in The Flash and in fact doesn’t currently have a deal to reprise Supes in any movie,” scooper and TheWrap reporter Umberto Gonzalez tweeted Monday in response to Internet claims Cavill would next appear in The Flash.

Cavill debuted the character in the DCEU-launching Man of Steel in 2013 before reuniting with director Zack Snyder for Batman v Superman: Dawn of Justice and Justice League, which only recently released its long-fabled Snyder’s Cut restoring the filmmaker’s vision for a black-suited Superman back from the dead. After the original version of Justice League opened in theaters in 2017, Cavill said at the time he was under contract for at least one more movie.

When reports surfaced in 2018 that Cavill exited his DC role after negotiations broke down over a cameo appearance in Shazam! — where Superman appears briefly, shown only from the neck down — THR reported this was due to scheduling conflicts with Cavill’s role as Geralt in Netflix series The Witcher. Another source claimed The Witcher deal happened after Cavill was unable to reach new terms with Superman studio Warner Bros.

The actor appeared to dispute reports of his exit with a cryptic Instagram video where he posed with a Superman toy while wearing a DC-themed t-shirt. A WB spokesperson said at the time that the studio has a “great relationship and great respect for Henry Cavill that continues to remain unchanged,” adding: “We have made no current decisions regarding any upcoming Superman films.”

Dany Garcia, the manager of both Cavill and DC’s Black Adam star-producer Dwayne Johnson, spoke out to pacify upset fans when she tweeted that “the cape is still in [Cavill’s] closet.” Cavill later made a similar statement, telling Men’s Health: “The cape is in the closet. It’s still mine.” (Black Adam producer Hiram Garcia has since acknowledged the fans clamoring for a Cavill Superman vs. Johnson Black Adam fight, saying in a recent interview Garcia and Johnson’s Seven Bucks Productions are “doing what we can” to make it happen.)

“[The rumors] get wilder and wilder by the day. The amount of speculation, the stuff I read on the Internet, is extraordinary and sometimes frustrating,” Cavill told Variety last July when asked about rumors he has — or hasn’t — reached a new deal to return as Superman. “It’s when you see people stating stuff as fact. Like, ‘No, that’s not the case. That hasn’t happened, and that conversation isn’t happening.’”

Cavill continued: “But the important thing is that people are excited about it, and I think it’s important to be excited about a character like Superman. Superman is a fantastic character. If people are chatting about it, and even if they’re making stuff up, it’s okay, because that means they want to see the character again. And in an ideal world, I would absolutely love to play the character again.”

Warner Bros. repeatedly tried to convince Guardians of the Galaxy filmmaker James Gunn to tackle Superman before he opted for The Suicide Squad, but the director specified it was “some sort of Superman movie” and not a much-asked-for Man of Steel 2. The studio is developing at least two Superman projects — a standalone reboot from the creative team of Ta-Nehisi Coates and J.J. Abrams, and Michael B. Jordan’s “Black Superman” series for HBO Max — as well as the Supergirl spin-off presumed to star Calle in a reprisal of her Flash role.

Director Andy Muschietti’s The Flash movie races into theaters on November 4, 2022.