Henry Cavill officially replaced as Superman, and fans are heartbroken

Henry Cavill has confirmed he will not be returning as Superman following a meeting with DC Studios' new co-chairman (and Guardians Of The Galaxy director) James Gunn.

If you've been paying attention, it's been an interesting few weeks for DC's movie business. Multiple projects have been cancelled as Gunn works alongside his partner Peter Safran to streamline the DC cinematic universe and, effectively, start again.

Gunn has been fairly transparent about the process of rebooting the DCU on social media, and last night confirmed the exciting news that he's worked out a slate of movies with Safran. Among them is a new Superman movie that will focus on the earlier days of the hero, which means that Cavill will not be involved.

"Peter & I have a DC slate ready to go, which we couldn’t be more over-the-moon about; we’ll be able to share some exciting information about our first projects at the beginning of the new year," Gunn wrote on Twitter.

"Among those on the slate is Superman. 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."

The move hasn't gone down particularly well with fans, especially given that Warner Bros. had just made a pretty big deal about Cavill coming back as Superman, even appearing at the end of Black Adam.

Cavill himself, who some fans believe stepped away from playing Geralt in The Witcher to focus on being Superman again, seems pretty cut up by the news.

“I will, after all, not be returning as Superman,” Cavill wrote on Instagram. “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 changing of the guard is something that happens. I respect that. 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.”

He added that fans might want to "mourn for a bit", but stressed that Superman is still around.

“My turn to wear the cape has passed, but what Superman stands for never will. It’s been a fun ride with you all, onwards and upwards," he finished.