DC spoke to Michael B. Jordan about possibly playing Superman

While Henry Cavill is still technically Superman – whether he plays the Man of Steel again is another matter – it appears that DC may have had their heads turned by another.

Mentioned in passing in a report by Variety on the planned future for the DC Extended Universe with Warner Bros, the star of Black Panther appears to have been at least discussed for role.

As was the possibility of J.J. Abrams, currently finishing up the latest Star Wars trilogy, coming on board too.

Read more: What Matthew Vaughn would have done with Superman

Per the report, 'there was a meeting with Michael B. Jordan earlier this year with the Creed star pitching Warners on a vision for the character', it explains.

However, it goes on to say that Jordan 'isn’t ready to commit to taking on the project since filming doesn’t seem likely to happen for several years and he has a full dance card of projects'.

It also adds that without a script, star or director in place, we're not likely to see a new Superman film 'before 2023', but this is the first we're hearing about a potential replacement for Cavill.

While Marvel's cinematic universe seemed unstoppable, DC's fortunes took a beating after Batman Vs. Superman: Dawn of Justice, Suicide Squad and then Justice League, all battered by critics, unloved by audiences, and the latter having lost the studio a reported $60 million.

However, the DCEU was given an unexpected lift by both Aquaman and Wonder Woman, the former busting through $1 billion, and the latter making a respectable $821 million, breathing life back into the ailing franchise.

Read More: Nolan reveals the fib he told Warner Bros about Superman

Then the lower budget Shazam! also brought in $364 million, but perhaps more importantly, some good reviews for a change, and while Todd Phillips and Joaquin Phoenix’s Joker may or may not get a sequel (and with it being not strictly part of the DCEU in terms of story), it has brought in over $1 billion.

Suddenly, the future is looking brighter for the DCEU, with Wonder Woman 1984 on the way, along with the Margot Robbie-fronted Birds of Prey, Aquaman 2, James Gunn's The Suicide Squad, the Black Adam movie with Dwayne Johnson and the Flash standalone movie with Ezra Miller, set to be helmed by It director Andy Muschietti.

A Green Lantern reboot script is also being worked on, according to Variety, which may then be presented to Abrams’ Bad Robot company to potentially produce.

Then there's Matt Reeves' The Batman too, though like Joker, that is expected to sit outside of the DCEU larger story too, with Robert Pattinson in the cowl, and Paul Dano, Colin Farrell and Zoe Kravitz now all on the bill.

It's due out on June 25, 2021, with Birds of Prey on February 7, 2020, and Wonder Woman 1984 on June 5, 2020.