James Gunn responds to 'uproarious and unkind' backlash over Henry Cavill's Superman exit

James Gunn has addressed the "uproarious and unkind" backlash to Henry Cavill's departure as Superman.

The 'Man of Steel' actor revealed last week he wouldn't be returning as the iconic character despite appearing in the post-credits scene for 'Black Adam' and subsequently announcing his comeback to the role.

On behalf of himself and DC Studios co-CEO Peter Safran, Gunn tweeted on Monday (19.12.22): "One of the things Peter [and] I were aware of when we took the job as heads of DC Studios was a certain minority of people online that could be, well, uproarious [and] unkind, to say the least.

"Our choices for the DCU are based upon what we believe is best for the story [and] best for the DC characters who have been around for nearly 85 years.

"Perhaps these choices are great, perhaps not, but they are made with sincere hearts [and] integrity [and] always with the story in mind.

"No one loves to be harassed or called names – but, to be frank, we’ve been through significantly worse. Disrespectful outcry will never, ever affect our actions."

He admitted the pair knew they would face some "turbulence" after taking charge of DC's movie and TV output, but they were willing to accept that as they strive to do their best for the studio.

He continued: "We were aware there would be a period of turbulence when we took this gig, [and] we knew we would sometimes have to make difficult [and] not-so-obvious choices, especially in the wake of the fractious nature of what came before us.

"But this means little to us in comparison to our jobs as artists [and] custodians in helping to create a wide [and] wonderful future for DC."

Gunn didn't name Cavill or Superman, but his tweets come after fierce backlash over the move.

Explaining the decision last week, he explained: "Peter [and] 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.

"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.

"But we just had a great meeting with Henry and we’re big fans and we talked about a number of exciting possibilities to work together in the future."