Report: Michael Bay was once eyed for a Henry Cavill-led Superman film

Many still regard the DC Extended Universe as the Snyderverse, as director Zack Snyder kicked it off with not just Man of Steel, but also Batman vs. Superman: Dawn of Justice and Justice League as well. However, the famed director didn't take point on any films in the universe beyond those, due to a multitude of reasons, and this led to a creative imbalance that led the universe in a variety of unsuccessful ways, and ultimately saw it implode and collapse.

Today, the DC Universe, helmed by James Gunn and Peter Safran, is the future, but there was once a reported last-ditch effort that could have seen Henry Cavill taking the lead as Superman once more but with a very different creative mind to Snyder at the helm.

The Wrap reports that there were once potential plans for Michael Bay to direct a Superman film starring Cavill, and that this report is backed up by two different insiders. A Warner Bros. representative has since denied this rumour. The film was seeded and given an attempted kickstart in 2022, but clearly the failings of Black Adam, Wonder Woman 1984, the low box office performance (of the actually great) The Suicide Squad, and the concerns with The Flash, among others, saw the project ultimately stall and fade into memory.

While Bay and Superman don't seem like a natural match, the action director has never actually directed a superhero film, so it would have been interesting to see what came of this.