‘Man Of Steel 2’ Treatment Penned By Steven Knight Was Rejected & Henry Cavill Was Once Considered For ‘Crisis On Infinite Earths’ Movie

It’s been a deeply turbulent week for DC fans of late. After news broke of some potentially drastic changes—a potential reboot of the entire Universe, which could include recasting of major characters—all kinds of details and ramifications started surfacing, including the news that Patty Jenkins’ “Wonder Woman 3” treatment was nixed by the studio, effectively killing her proposed version of that film (and it sounds like she’s walked away from the franchise entirely, upset that her pitch was rejected).

In these initial reports, many potential ideas were thrown around, including scrapping “Man Of Steel 2,” recasting much of the DC main cast, and Jason Momoa potentially shifting from Aquaman to the character Lobo. New DC Studios co-chief James Gunn acknowledged that some of these reports are true to an extent but stressed a lot of the final decisions had not been made, suggesting that many of the ideas were still in a debate phase.

Regardless, now more details have surfaced. The Hollywood Reporter details some of the plans that were in the works for British actor Henry Cavill’s return as Superman before he was last-minute added to “Black Adam” with a cameo.

READ MORE: James Gunn Acknowledges The Massive DC Franchise Overhaul: “We Are Not Going To Make Every Single Person Happy”

A script treatment for “Man of Steel 2” was being written by “Peaky Blinders” creator Steven Knight, but the studio wasn’t entirely thrilled with the treatment. They gave him a bunch of feedback notes—hoping he would adjust his pitch to their criticisms— but the highly in-demand screenwriter/producer moved on. While there had been meetings in the past trying to get a creative team for “Man of Steel 2,” this is the first time hearing the name of a creator attempting to write it. An Academy Award-nominated and A-list screenwriter, Knight’s credits include the aforementioned popular gangster series “Peaky Blinders,” the Kristen Stewart-led Princess Diana drama “Spencer,” Tom Hardy’s FX series “Taboo,” and David Cronenberg-directed Russian mafia flick “Eastern Promises.”

“Man of Steel 2” wasn’t DC Films’ only plan for Henry Cavill’s return. While there were previous reports that former DC Films chief Walter Hamada tried to block Cavill’s cameo in “Black Adam,” it seems like that’s because he had bigger plans for the star.

Before his exit from the studio, Hamada had been keen for Cavill to return as Superman in a potential big event “Crisis On Infinite Earths” movie that would lean heavily into the multiverse angle of the DCEU. There are multiple different versions of various heroes in alternative universes —which the upcoming “The Flash” film will explore, with numerous Batmans (played by Michael Keaton and Ben Affleck respectively) and the introduction of Sasha Calle’s Supergirl. However, it’s unclear how far Hamada’s plan went before he left and James Gunn and Peter Safran took over the creative reins at DC Studios.

Speaking of Keaton, a “Batman Beyond” movie was reportedly in the works from screenwriter Christina Hodson (“The Flash,” “The Batgirl”) that THR says may have featured a romance between Keaton’s Batman and Catwoman, a potential opening to have Michelle Pfeiffer (“Ant-Man 3”) reprise her “Batman Returns” role too. The original rumors said that the “Batman Beyond” film had been scrapped, but THR says all that’s happened so far is that Hodson has been told to stop work on the project until Gunn and Safran’s plan is presented to Warner Bros. Discovery’s David Zaslav.

We don’t have the complete picture of the future of the DC Universe and if some of these changes will be as drastic as rumored. If anything, it seems like Gunn and Safran are getting ready to make their big presentation, and all possible ideas are on the table. So things that have been reported as “dead,” aka “Man of Steel 2,” “Wonder Woman 3,” and “Batman Beyond,” could still resurface with another creative take. Maybe, things aren’t as dire as we imagined, but we won’t know for sure until those details are publicized.