British actor Henry Cavill confirmed that he will not be returning as Superman, much to the dismay of DC fans around the world, through a statement posted on social media on December 15.

The 39-year-old actor shared the news after a meeting with director James Gunn and producer Peter Safran.

The upcoming Superman film will reportedly see ‘the man of steel’ as a budding reporter in stark contrast to Cavill’s Superman, who was an already established hero in the DC universe. “The changing of the guard is something that happens. I respect that. James and Peter have a universe to build,” the statement reads.

“I will, after all, not be returning as Superman. 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,” Cavil mentioned.

Earlier, the actor had broken the news of his return as the DC superhero via an Instagram post on October 24. The video was posted after the release of Black Adam, which saw Cavill’s return as Superman in a post-credit scene in the film. The scene saw Cavill’s Superman coming face to face with Dwayne ‘The Rock’ Johnson’s Black Adam.

“I wanted to make it official that I am back as Superman and the image you see on this post and what you saw in Black Adam is just a very small taste of things to come,” the actor had said in the video.

Six days after the announcement, Cavill had shared the news of ending his journey as Geralt of Rivia in the Netflix fantasy drama series The Witcher.

“My journey as Geralt of Rivia has been filled with both monsters and adventures, and alas, I will be laying down my medallion and my swords for Season 4. In my stead, the fantastic Mr Liam Hemsworth will be taking up the mantle of the White Wolf,” the actor wrote in the post, revealing that The Hunger Games actor Liam Hemsworth would play the role already perfected by Cavill.