This week, DC Extended Universe fans were rocked by the reports that Henry Cavill is retiring as Superman and leaving the shared superhero universe. To be clear, this still hasn't been officially confirmed, and the video Cavill posted hours after the news broke certainly didn't clear things up. Nevertheless, this behind-the-scenes shakeup has generated a lot of conversation, with one of the big question posed being who might succeed Cavill as the Man of Steel. Well, now Dean Cain has thrown his hat into the proverbial ring, and unlike the other candidates, he already has Superman experience under his belt thanks to the Lois & Clark TV series.
It's been more than 20 years since Lois & Clark: The New Adventures of Superman left the airwaves, and a lot has happened with Superman, particularly in the live action realm. Smallville took Kal-El/Clark Kent on a different kind of superhero journey, Superman Returns brought him back to the big screen in an adventure taking place after the first two Superman movies, and Man of Steel rebooted through the character through a darker lens and subsequently launched the DCEU. But even after all this time, Dean Cain wants it known that he's ready to reprise Superman now that he's finished his "long vacation" and his son is an adult. And if playing Superman in a new movie doesn't work out, Cain also threw in rebooting Lois & Clark as an alternative on his Twitter post. 'Continuation' would be the better classification. After all, the series did end on a cliffhanger, so it would be interesting to see Cain back in the cape and Teri Hatcher reprising Lois Lane, especially given how many shows from decades past are being revived nowadays.
Obviously the chances of Dean Cain taking over as the DCEU's Superman are next to impossible, but fortunately for the actor, he did recently have the opportunity to jump back into the Super-mythology through the Supergirl TV series. There he portrayed Jeremiah Danvers, Kara Zor-El's adoptive father who was originally thought to have died saving J'onn J'onzz (a.k.a. Martian Manhunter), but was revealed in Season 2 to still be alive, albeit cybernetically enhanced and forced to serve Project Cadmus. One would imagine Dean will reprise Jeremiah again in Supergirl, and who knows, maybe they'll find an excuse to plaster an 'S' shield on his chest. Cain also voiced Jonathan Kent, Supes' adoptive father, in 2016's DC Super Hero Girls: Hero of the Year.
As far as this whole Henry Cavill situation goes, supposedly Warner Bros had been working to get the actor to reprise Superman for a Shazam! cameo, and after that didn't work out either due to schedule conflicts or money, then the door closed on him playing the Man of Steel post-Justice League. However, yesterday it was reported that news of Cavill's exit is premature, and that there simply hasn't been any discussions recently regarding the actor's future as Superman since Man of Steel 2 isn't in active development. In other words, this story isn't finished just yet.
Stay tuned to CinemaBlend for all the latest updates concerning DC's move plans, and if you're interested in learning what DCEU projects are coming down the pipeline, check out our handy guide.
