Henry Cavill’s Superman Saved By A Massive Merger?
The new major media merger that went down on Monday could be the thing that ends up saving Henry Cavill as Superman for DC.
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Henry Cavill is out as Superman. Except, that wait, he’s back in as Superman. Or no, on second thought, we were right the first time. He’s done. Oops, hold on, never mind. He’s back on as Superman. Such is the push and pull of the rumor involving Cavill in this role that the circumstances and leanings change nearly daily. And news dropped on Monday that put his role in DC back in play again. With the announcement that Warner Media and Discovery were merging came Geekosity reporting that the move could get Henry Cavill and the Snyderverse back up and running at DC. See what I mean, you can’t rest for a second on this stuff. Just when you think you know the direction, something major happens and it’s all upended.
The WarnerMedia and Discovery merger is much a bigger deal than just how it pertains to the DC Extended Universe in that it creates another media superpower, done especially to compete with Disney+ and Netflix. But among all of the things that will shift the landscape with these two companies combining their powers (and considerable assets) is that it could begin shifting around folks at the executive and top creative levels. And this is where Henry Cavill comes in. It’s suspected that some of the key players who could be moving out of Warner were the ones who opposed Cavill and the Snyderverse returning for extended stories at the studio.
The deal is part of a massive move that has AT&T spinning off WarnerMedia as a separate company to combine it with Discovery’s stable of channels. It instantly makes them one of the biggest media companies in the world. But as part of the Geekosity reporting, it was mentioned that Warner Bros. studio chairman Toby Emmerich could be someone on the chopping block with this new deal. If that were the case, it would possibly open the door for a resurgence and restructuring of the DC Universe which would include Henry Cavill returning as Superman. This is speculation of course but would make sense considering he was one of the folks apparently standing in the way of Cavill returning.
In the final piece of the speculation about Henry Cavill returning was the idea that under a new management structure, there would be a great emphasis placed on organization and cohesion among the studio’s top properties. If the Zack Snyder cut to Justice League delivered its streaming numbers the way most suspect, there’s reason to believe an audience still exists for these characters, Cavill’s Superman included. Some could make the claim that DC never gave these characters the best chance for success under the old regime simply because of the jerky-jerky nature of the stories and timing. A new group of execs could definitely see an opportunity here.
Look, whether Henry Cavill stays on as Superman in some respect or role remains to be seen. There’s been a seesawing of rumors that would make even the most dedicated fan a bit queasy and motion sick at this point. Each day it seems like there is a definitive way to think about the situation only to have something new come along to flip the script. Today is no different. But if there was a chance to bring him back and give the franchise a second (or third, or fourth) chance, this sure seems like the opportunity.
