Henry Cavill Dropped as Superman

"My turn to wear the cape has passed," Henry Cavill, who has been playing Superman since 2013's Man of Steel, said in an Instagram post Wednesday. Cavill—who announced he would be playing Superman after he resigned from Netflix's The Witcher—said he had been told by James Gunn and Peter Safran, the new co-chairmen of DC Studios, that he would not be returning to the role after all, Guardian reports. "After being told by the studio to announce my return back in October, prior to their hire, this news isn’t the easiest, but that’s life," the 39-year-old British actor said. "The changing of the guard is something that happens. I respect that," he said. "James and Peter have a universe to build. I wish them and all involved with the new universe the best of luck, and the happiest of fortunes."

Gunn and Safran say they will unveil their full plan for their reboot of DC universe next month, Deadline reports. "Among those on the slate is Superman," Gunn tweeted Wednesday. "In the initial stages, our story will be focusing on an earlier part of Superman’s life, so the character will not be played by Henry Cavill. But we just had a great meeting with Henry and we’re big fans and we talked about a number of exciting possibilities to work together in the future." Gunn, director of Marvel's Guardians of the Galaxy movies, said he and Safran "couldn’t be more over-the-moon" about the new projects.

Gunn said he is hoping to work with Ben Affleck, whose final appearance as Batman will be in the upcoming The Flash movie, but as a director, not an actor. "Met with Ben yesterday precisely because he wants to direct & we want him to direct; we just have to find the right project," he tweeted. Insiders tell Variety that Gunn has been working on the new Superman story for some time and it will focus on the character's days as a cub reporter in Metropolis. "For those who have been by my side through the years," Cavill said in his Instagram post, "we can mourn for a bit but then we must remember ... Superman is still around. Everything he stands for still exists, and the examples he sets for us are still there!" (More Superman stories.)