We talk a lot here about the various and sundry shakeups that the DC films have been undergoing since ‘Justice League’ underperformed late last year. But one of those presumed shakeups – and one of the biggest – is one that wasn’t even on our radar until just a couple months ago. I’m speaking, of course, of the potential departure of Henry Cavill from the role of Superman.
When news of the possibility broke, it came amid contract negotiations, and since then both Warner and Cavill himself have been extremely coy about the matter. The official word, it seems, is that there is no official word. But when has that ever stopped people from asking questions? To that point, Cavill’s ‘Justice League’ co-star Jason Momoa is currently making the rounds in support of ‘Aquaman‘, which opens next week. Speaking to ET Online at the film’s Los Angeles premiere, Momoa had this to say on the subject:
“I just talked to Henry… He’s absolutely not [leaving the character]. He loves the character. He’s not. One hundred percent.”
If what Momoa has apparently been told is true, it would certainly lend credence to the theory that Cavill (or his agent) has been trying to do what’s known as negotiating in the press. If this is what’s going on, then it would mean that Cavill himself would prefer to stay on as the Man of Steel and that all the talk of his departure was (essentially) his agent threatening to walk away in order to secure a better contract. By doing so publicly, the theory goes, you put more pressure on the studio than if such threats were made privately.
Of course, that would still leave Ben Affleck in limbo. The more things change, the more they stay the same…
The next installment in the DC Extended Universe, ‘Aquaman’ has been helmed by director James Wan and stars Jason Momoa, Amber Heard, Willem Dafoe, Temuera Morrison, Dolph Lundgren, Yahya Abdul-Mateen II, Patrick Wilson, and Nicole Kidman. The film is scheduled to arrive in theaters on December 21, 2018.
