FINALLY. At long last, we have heard news that Warner Bros has some kind of direction in mind for Superman, and best of all, it includes Henry Cavill.

When I read the news I literally screamed out loud!

So not ashamed.I have been talking about this for a long time (as well as here, here, and here). I have been wanting the studio to give Henry another chance to play the part since he is brilliantly cast and could be great given a good opportunity (and by good I mean competent plot and storytelling). He has grown to love Superman as a fan too, and wants to see the character done right. I had even heard that one of the sticking points in his last round of negotiations with the studio was being a producer and having director approval, which WB was having none of, predictably. Still, the fact that he put himself out there is more than just about money, it seems to me, but what do I know?The new deal being hammered out makes clear this contract is NOT for a Man of Steel sequel or standalone Superman movie, but for various cameos and guest spots, a la Hulk or Nick Fury in the MCU. Many fans were disappointed by that announcement, and understandably so. Superman is an A-list hero, in many ways THE A-list hero, and should be treated as such. No argument there. Still, at this point I will take anything I can get. It has been way too long since we’ve seen Superman on the big screen at all, let alone by himself, while more and more superhero movies come out each year in record numbers (pre-COVID-19, of course). On top of that, I was pleasantly surprised by how much I enjoyed Aquaman and even Shazam, although less so, and Wonder Woman has always been headed in the right direction. If decent superhero flicks are coming out by a studio not named Marvel Studios, then tying them together with Superman as a common thread makes sense. Henry’s friendship with Dwayne Johnson, who has been outspoken about wanting a Superman/Black Adam fight, has also likely added fuel to this fire.All of this is exciting and I would have written about it a lot sooner, except a few days later a follow up story came out about how a deal between Warner and Cavill was NOT done and still in the works. I had been on cloud nine after the initial story and, eerily similar to the last go around in 2018, it began feeling like the carpet was being pulled out from under us. AGAIN.I’ve said many times that part of my enthusiasm for starting this site was because of how good a place Superman was in as a character in 2016. That included a good actor portraying him on the big screen! We are now four years later and not much has happened: a shambles of a Justice League movie came out in 2017 to mediocre reviews and a still divided fandom. Henry Cavill and his agent couldn’t make any headway with Warner on a contract. The studio was restructured with Walter Hamada coming in, and no plans for a new Superman movie were made. A Supergirl movie set in the 70s was discussed and then backtracked. Now a Snyder cut of Justice League is being released in 2021, and we’re still basically in the same place we were three years ago. The best we can get now as Supes fans, are unconfirmed, seemingly random guest appearances in various other movies. When. Will. It. Stop!! The fact that the king of superheroes is nowhere to be found during the GOLDEN AGE OF SUPERHERO MOVIES is a failure of epic proportions!!! Come on WB!! Get it together!!! Don’t get me wrong, I would love to see Henry Cavill in a few more shared universe superhero movies, and Superman on the big screen, period, but this has got to stop. Make up your minds already!

A great book was written some time ago called Superman vs Hollywood, which was absolutely phenomenal and utterly fascinating. It chronicles the entire history of Superman’s journey to the big screen: the highs and lows, the Byzantine dealings and derailings after successes, but mostly the ineptitude of the studio executives to figure out a way to market their character. The book was released in 2008 and goes through the release of Superman Returns and into the development of Man of Steel. If the author wanted to write some new chapters about the events of the last twelve years, it would fit into this book nicely. And that is sad.

Let’s hope they turn it around soon!