Exclusive: Man Of Steel 2 Is A Reboot, Henry Cavill Superman Origin Changing
Man of Steel 2 will erase Henry Cavill's Superman killing General Zod.
Update: This Giant Freakin Robot exclusive was confirmed, and Henry Cavill was no longer starring as Superman in Man of Steel 2 or any other movie. The DC Universe shifted under James Gunn.
The upcoming Man of Steel 2 film will not be a proper sequel, but will be treated as a reboot of Henry Cavill as Superman. According to our trusted and proven sources, Man of Steel 2 will treat the origin of Clark Kent differently than portrayed in Zack Snyder’s 2013 movie; specifically, Henry Cavill will no longer be portrayed as having killed General Zod (Michael Shannon). This will be a pretty big change for the character but does line up with the new direction Henry Cavill has expressed interest in.
Man of Steel 2 has been one of the more mysterious potential projects for the DC Universe, with it being uncertain for years whether Henry Cavill would even be returning to the role. However, it seems that after the events of the Ezra Miller-led Flash movie, Superman will not be quite the same character we know in modern DC movies. For a long time, it seemed like Henry Cavill was drifting to other franchises like Netflix’s Witcher series and Enola Holmes, but he now seems reinvigorated to play the last son of Krypton once more.
While rebooting perhaps the most iconic character in all of comic book history seems like a pretty big deal, this is also a statement of purpose from the newly formed DC Studios. Since James Gunn and Peter Safran were granted the keys to the DC kingdom by Warner Bros. Discovery CEO David Zaslav, there has been speculation that the two would steer the franchise in a lighter direction. Man of Steel 2 getting rid of the idea that Henry Cavill snapped Michael Shannon’s neck with his bare hands and feels really bad about it is probably a good indicator that they would like to change the conversation about the character.
That sounds like it would suit the actor fine as well. While there are few details available as of yet for Man of Steel 2, we have previously reported that Henry Cavill is eager to steer Superman in a more positive, hopeful direction. Interestingly, while audiences in general disapproved of the choice to have Superman kill Zod and considered it out of character, it is actually DC Comics canon that he was forced to execute the Kryptonian general along with two others. This might be a case in which pushing a character into their best-known depiction also involves erasing some crucial backstory.
Considering that Superman has one of the most famous origin stories this side of your parents taking a late-night shortcut through something called “Crime Alley,” it will also be interesting to see what exactly Man of Steel 2 does with Henry Cavill. It also raises the question of whether Kevin Costner and Diane Lane will still be portraying Clark Kent’s human parents, and if Russell Crowe will have any involvement as his Kryptonian father Jor-El. While both Costner and Crowe’s characters are currently dead in the films, this is a comic book adaptation, so anything really could happen.
At the very least, we are excited to see how Man of Steel 2 gets Henry Cavill back on board and what kind of new, cheery Superman we get.
