DC boss James Gunn opens up about guilt with new 'Superman'

Superman director James Gunn admits Henry Cavill's exit could have been handled better.

Gunn recently reflected on the behind-the-scenes miscommunication that led to Cavill’s exit from the DC Universe, shortly before Gunn officially took over creative control of DC Studios alongside producer Peter Safran.

“The day our [DC] deal closed, all of a sudden, they were announcing that Henry was back,” Gunn recalled. “And I’m like, ‘What is going on?’ We know what the plan is. The plan was to come in and do Superman — with a new actor. So it was really unfair to him, and a total bummer,” Gunn said during a recent appearance on Happy Sad Confused podcast.

Gunn revealed that another division within the studio was trying to "force" a different vision, which was “never part of the equation.”

“That was really unfortunate,” Gunn continued. “So Peter and I [thought] the right thing to do was to sit down with [Cavill] and talk to him. And we sat down and we talked to him. He was an absolute gentleman, a great guy about it. He said, ‘The only thing I ask is that I’m able to reveal it myself as opposed to it coming from you guys.'”

When asked if Cavill could return to the DCU in another role, Gunn responded without hesitation. 

“Absolutely not too confusing… I talked to him about it that day. I would love to put Henry in something,” said of Cavill, who previously played Superman in Man of Steel (2013), Batman v Superman (2016), and Justice League (2017).

Gunn’s DCU debut feature, which released July 11, stars David Corenswet as the new face of Superman.