James Gunn Responds To Backlash from Fans Due to Henry Cavill’s Exit; Talks About Recasting DC Characters & More

James Gunn has recently announced that Henry Cavill will not be returning as the Man of Steel as they have decided on a reboot for the character, featuring a younger Superman. The fans haven’t taken this news too kindly and have been bombarding Gunn across his social media platforms. Gunn has finally had enough of it and has decided to respond to fans through a thread on Twitter.

He started off by stating that when Peter Safran and him took on the jobs as heads of DC Studios, they were sure that a minority of people could be “uproarious and unkind.” He added that their choices for the DCU as based on what they believe is best for the characters that have been around for more than 85 years. These choices could be great or not, but they have been made with “sincere hearts and integrity and always with the story in mind”.

Additionally, he stated that no one wanted to be called names or harassed, but honestly the two of them have been through significantly worse and disrespectful outcry will never affect their actions. They were aware of the turbulence they would face when taking on this job, as they would have to make some difficult and not-so-obvious choices. He concluded, “But this means little to us in comparison to our jobs as artists & custodians in helping to create a wide & wonderful future for DC.” Take a look at the thread below:

One of the things Peter & I were aware of when we took the job as heads of DC Studios was a certain minority of people online that could be, well, uproarious & unkind, to say the least.

— James Gunn (@JamesGunn) December 19, 2022

One user on Twitter replied to his thread questioning the veracity of these claims, but recasting all DCEU characters and only keeping some will be interesting, given they have already interacted with each other. Gunn replied stating that he keeps seeing posts with this untrue theory, they are not recasting everyone except the Suicide Squad.

I keep seeing posts with this untrue theory. We’re not recasting everyone except The Suicide Squad.

— James Gunn (@JamesGunn) December 19, 2022

On the topic of James Gunn, he recently opened up about letting Henry Cavill go. One Twitter user replied to his recent post stating, “The cold indifference to letting Henry Cavill go and tweeting about everything but is truly “CEO role” worthy. I couldn’t do it … but I have a heart.”

To which Gunn replied that he is anything but cold about it. He had a sit down with Henry recently, and they had a very open, honest and respectful discussion about the situation. Both of them have communicated after the talk and things seem good between the two. He concluded by saying that he has said what he needed to, and he’s not sure what else would fans like him to say.

I’m anything but cold about it. I sat down in person with Henry yesterday and we had a very open and honest and respectful discussion. We’ve communicated since and he and I are all good. And I said what I needed to say yesterday, not sure what else you’d like me to say.

— James Gunn (@JamesGunn) December 15, 2022

In other news, a report from the New York Post indicates that James Gunn and Peter Safran weren’t the first choices for the heads of DC Studios. According to the report, an industry insider stated that nobody in Hollywood wanted to be at the helm for DC studios and Warner Bros. Discovery reportedly “begged” The Joker director, Todd Phillips, to take on the job. Eventually, they landed up with Gunn who directed The Suicide Squad for them and Safran who had worked for Aquaman as well as Shazam.

Lastly, many fans will be disappointed after hearing this, but one of the main villains from Superman comics was on his way to make an appearance on the big screen. Yes, a report from The Hollywood Reporter indicated that if Man of Steel 2 was getting made, then the main antagonist would be none other than Brainiac.

Fans would have loved to see this character’s portrayal on the big screen, but unfortunately, that will not be the case, at least for the moment. The report also stated that according to one insider’s observation, Henry was merely a pawn in “Dwayne’s failed attempt to control a piece of DC.” We do not know for sure about how much or if any of this is true.