Ben Affleck and Henry Cavill are both reportedly done with the DC Universe

The DC Universe’s troubles continue

Both Ben Affleck and Henry Cavill are reportedly finished with the DC cinematic universe, Variety are reporting. The standalone Flash movie has also been delayed until 2021. Last month, stories broke that Henry Cavill would not be returning as Superman, despite being resurrected in Justice League – though there has been no official statement confirming or denying the reports. It has also been long rumoured that Ben Affleck would not be playing Batman again, in the upcoming Matt Reeves-directed solo film. The Variety story would seem to back both of those up, stating that:

The studio is not moving forward with Batman and Superman movies featuring Ben Affleck and Henry Cavill, respectively. It is expected to recast the Dark Knight with a different actor.

We guess that Cavill could still feasibly play the Man of Tomorrow in another DC movie though. The Flash, starring Ezra Miller, has had a long and difficult production, with multiple directors having dropped out over the last few years. And the film has now hit another stumbling block as Miller’s commitments to the Fantastic Beasts series has caused production to be delayed till 2019 – with a 2021 release now likely. Cavill’s tenure as Superman has never run smoothly. Zach Snyder’s reboot Man of Steel was mostly a hit with audiences - but it was the sequel Batman Vs Superman where it all started to go wrong. Though far from a box-office bomb, it wasn’t the Avengers-sized hit Warner Bros were hoping for. Things got even worse for the long-awaited Justice League movie. Originally scheduled to be two films shot back-to-back, Snyder had to drop out of the film due to a personal tragedy and was replaced by Joss Whedon. The final product was a movie where you can almost see the Sellotape holding it together. Cavill isn’t short of big projects though – he recently signed up to take the lead in Netflix’s adaption of The Witcher.