Henry Cavill Returning as Superman Might Leave Tyler Hoechlin Out of Job
Henry Cavill has finally returned to the DC Extended Universe as Superman. His after-credits cameo in Black Adam might potentially be setting the stage for the long-awaited sequel to Zack Snyder's Man of Steel. Good for Cavill's fans, but it could mean that another Superman might find himself out of job.
Superman & Lois has been a show largely praised by fans and critics alike. But Tyler Hoechlin 's tenure as the Man of Tomorrow could be cut short in the future. Why? Warner Bros. Discovery is reluctant to have competing live-actions versions of the same character.
There is no sort of hard rule regarding that, but such reluctance was supposedly the reason why Batman never showed up during the TV run of Smallville, as it was felt that viewers would see the series as a prequel to Christopher Nolan 's Batman trilogy. And the Arrowverse's version of the Suicide Squad was killed off right before the premiere of the DC Extended Universe movie starring the team.
Similarly, the DCEU's iteration of The Flash is only finally coming out, as The Flash's TV show is entering its final season. There is a fear that something similar might be mandated for Superman, so Henry Cavill's reappearance on the big screen could mean the end of one of the best recent superhero shows.
Various Batman-related TV shows appearing on screen along with DCEU films starring Batman, Todd Phillips' Joker, and the separate universe of The Batman might be used as a counterargument against the existence of any such rule. But most of these TV shows do not feature a traditional, classic version of Batman to compete with each other, and Ben Affleck 's DCEU Batman last appeared on the big screen in 2017 (not counting Snyder's cut of Justice League).
In any case, right now Superman & Lois is reasonably safe. Its third season is already in production. Meanwhile the project that can become Man of Steel 2 has not even been announced officially, and is currently at the stage of searching for scriptwriters (via THR).
This means a release in 2025, late in 2024 at best, if the project advances at the fastest possible pace. But given Henry Cavill's busy schedule, the movie might only be entering production by that time.