It’s a bird! It’s a plane! No – it’s Henry Cavill Dropping out as Superman!

British actor Henry Cavill, who played Superman in Man of Steel, Batman v Superman and Justice League is said to be hanging up the red cape.

The Hollywood Reporter has reported that negotiations between Warner Bros and Henry Cavill recently broke down, meaning Henry Cavill will no longer be playing the Man of Steel going forward.

This is yet another crushing blow in a string of crushing blows for Warner Bros and DC, which began with the disappointing box office performance of Justice League – a film that should have been their biggest movie to date, but actually ended up being their lowest grossing movie, failing to out-gross Man of Steel, Batman v Superman, Suicide Squad and Wonder Woman. Couple that with reshoots that saw the budget balloon out of control and the poor reception from critics and audiences alike, Justice League is considered by many to be a full-blown flop.

Just five movies in to the DC Extended Universe (DCEU), things are already looking rocky and the future of the franchise isn’t looking good, but with Aquaman due for release on December 14^th 2018, Shazam due for release on April 5^th 2019 and Wonder Woman 1984 already deep in to production with a scheduled release date of November 15^th 2019, it is likely that the future of the entire DCEU rests on those three movies.

A representative for Warner Bros released a statement on the Cavill situation, saying “While no decisions have been made regarding any upcoming Superman films, we’ve always had great respect for and a great relationship with Henry Cavill and that remains unchanged.”

Henry Cavill’s manager Dany Garcia addressed the situation on Twitter and gave fans hope that the report isn’t true. “Be peaceful, the cape is still in his closet. Warner has been and continues to be our partners as they evolve the DC Universe” she said.

Cavill himself addressed the situation in a cryptic video posted to his Instagram, which features him staring blankly into camera while wearing a t-shirt that reads “Krypton Lifting Team” and slowly bringing a Superman action figure into frame, then slowly dropping it back out of frame, never breaking his gaze. The bizarre video was also accompanied by the caption “Today was exciting. #Superman”

Exactly what this video means is anybody’s guess – some fans are taking it as confirmation that the rumours are false and that Cavill is indeed staying on-board as Superman, while others assume it is just Henry Cavill having a little fun and stirring up the rumours, much in the same way Idris Elba did last month with the James Bond casting rumours.

While nothing has been confirmed by either party and all those involved seem unwilling to provide fans with a simple, straight-forward answer, it is still pretty evident that things seem to be in need of a shake-up at Warner Bros/DC, especially with the rumours that Ben Affleck has also dropped out as Bruce Wayne/Batman. If both of these reports are true, Warner Bros have lost their Superman and Batman, the two biggest superheroes on their roster, leaving the future of the DCEU hazier than ever.