There has been widespread speculation surrounding actor Henry Cavill's absence from the DCEU since 2017's Justice League. The Man of Steel himself has scarcely been mentioned in the many instalments that have been released since. Part of the reason for that appears to be former Warner Bros. exec Toby Emmerich.
Citing a "very highly placed source," film pundit Robert Meyer Burnett explained the issues began when the studio attempted to get Cavill to appear in 2019's Shazam! for a brief cameo. The actor's manager said, "If he appeared in a cameo as Superman, that would count as one of Henry Cavill’s contracted appearances in a movie as Superman." This was not received well by the studio. Specifically, former Warner Bros. Pictures chairman Toby Emmerich, who is said to have responded, "Henry Cavill is now persona non grata, he's not gonna play ball with the studio? He will never be Superman again."
Shazam! did include a Superman cameo, though it last a second and made use of a body-double. Superman walked into the scene, had no lines and was shown only from the neck down. Up until now, there was only speculation and no official explanation for Cavill's absence from the franchise.
As audiences now know, Cavill has returned to the DCEU thanks to Black Adam and star Dwayne Johnson, who reportedly spent six years campaigning for Cavill's return. The situation has been helped by the fact that Emmerich stepped down from his position in June this year. Moreover, a sequel to Man of Steel is reportedly in the works and is searching for writers to pen the script. Reports also suggest Warner Bros. Discovery CEO David Zaslav and Warner Bros. Pictures co-CEOs Michael De Luca and Pam Abdy are enthusiastic about Cavill's continued involvement in the superhero franchise.
It was recently revealed that Cavill's inclusion in Black Adam was completed just a month before the film premiered in theaters, though Johnson had been teasing an appearance by Superman for some time. The post-credits sequence that sees the Man of Steel's return was originally filmed without Cavill's face. Johnson first asked former DC Films president Walter Hamada to include Cavill and when that didn't work, he appealed to Luca and Abdy, who gave Black Adam the go-ahead.
Black Adam is playing in theaters now.
Source: YouTube, via The Direct