James Gunn dropping Henry Cavill shook the DC universe like Doomsday killing Superman. The outcry from fans has been relentless, and nothing they have to say is nice. Cavill has been the DCU ideal of Superman since Man of Steel, and we hadn’t seen him in the red cape since Justice League. Now, just as we were told he was coming back, James Gunn pulls the rug out from under us and drops Cavill as Superman. Nobody’s happy, but a whole group of fans is now left wondering, what’s going to happen to the DCU?

Superman getting a new actor is a big sign for DC. We know James Gunn and Peter Safran have been building a ten-year plan for the DCU since they started leading DC Studios, but getting a new Superman means big changes are coming. Some fans thought Gunn might try to use the Snyder cut of Justice League to revive the DCU, others thought he might start making parallel storylines inside DC that led to a world with four Batmans. But with Henry Cavill gone and a new Superman on the horizon, just about everyone is in doubt. Here’s how we think Cavill leaving as Superman will impact the DCU.

James Gunn is Changing the DCU

James Gunn and DCU characters
DC Studios/DC Comics

James Gunn has already made big changes to the DCU. Over the past few months he and Safran have been in charge of DC Studios, they’ve been steadily planning what they like to call a 10-year plan. Now, no one knows what this plan is yet, but Gunn assures everyone that much more information will be announced at the start of the new year.

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What we’ve heard of Gunn’s plans so far are several cancelations and reassignments of big stars. Wonder Woman 3 was one of the major projects in the DC pipeline, but it was put down earlier this month. Director Patty Jenkins was denied her bite at the apple, but not fired or kicked out of the DCU. There’s still the possibility of another Wonder Woman movie going forward, according to The Hollywood Reporter.

“Sources say that Jenkins recently submitted her treatment, co-written with Geoff Johns, and that Gunn and Safran, as well as Warner Bros. Pictures co-chairs and co-CEOs Michael De Luca and Pamela Abdy, broke the news to the filmmaker, telling her the project — as it stood — did not fit in with the new (but still unfolding) plans.”

Ben Affleck, who has been playing Batman since Batman v. Superman: Dawn of Justice was also dropped from his role. This news came on the heels of Cavill losing his position as Superman, but took a backseat to Cavill. Affleck, though he isn’t Batman anymore, was asked by Gunn to stay on in the DCU to direct a future project. Gunn said on Twitter that he wanted Ben Affleck to direct if they could find the right project.

Superman, Batman, and Wonder Woman have always been the three primary superheroes sitting atop the Justice League, so whatever Gunn is planning, it’s going to be big. Despite these major changes, the DCU is still going ahead with most of its 2023 release schedule. Shazam! Fury of the Gods is still coming out on March 17. The Flash will premiere a week ahead of schedule on June 16, though the Cavill Superman cameo has been cut. The Blue Beetle is set to come out on August 18. And Aquaman and the Lost Kingdom is still slated for Christmas 2023. Whatever changes Gunn has made probably won’t take effect until 2024.

What Will Happen to Superman?

superman-man-of-steel-henry-cavill
Warner Bros. Pictures

Superman is set to be rewritten. When HCavill appeared in his cameo for the post-credits scene of Black Adam, no one could tell the future. Then, they had just announced plans for Man of Steel 2, which is still happening, but now it will be a reboot instead of a sequel. Cavill’s cameo was slipped into the movie when Dwayne Johnson went over an executive’s head to satisfy his lust for a Black Adam vs. Superman fight. For all we know, it might still happen, but with James Gunn's new Superman.

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For now, Cavill will be replaced with a younger actor to fit Gunn’s plan to tell a story of Superman’s earlier life. Gunn’s new movie will focus on Superman’s time living in Metropolis under the alias Clark Kent. He’ll work for the Daily Planet and probably meet Lois Lane for the first time.

Although Cavill won’t be playing the role, it feels like a good chance for the DCU to explore Superman from a different angle. This will be the first time since Smallville we’ve seen a young Superman, and it might turn out to be the refresher that DC has needed for such a very long time. Because even if we all love Henry Cavill, we also knew that something big had to change about the DCU. James Gunn is just the guy ripping the band-aid off now, so we can have better movies in the future.