Those muscles, that light wave in his hair, those sparkling eyes, that chin—if there was ever an actor born to play Superman, it was Henry Cavill.

But fans received a major shock this week when it was announced that Cavill would be hanging up the cape, stepping aside from the role so that Warner Bros. could take its DC Comics superhero characters in new directions.

 

Shortly after the news broke, the actor shared an emotional response on Instagram, reminding fans that, although his turn to wear the cape has passed, “what Superman stands for never will”:

 

The news comes in the wake of major shake-ups for what’s become known as the DC Extended Universe—the “DCEU”—the movie franchise that includes Supes, Batman, Wonder Woman, Aquaman, and the rest of the Justice League.

 

Under the supervision of new DC Studios co-CEOs James Gunn (the director of Suicide Squad and the Guardians Of The Galaxy movies) and Peter Safran (producer of The Conjuring movies), plans for another Gal Gadot-starring Wonder Woman movie had already been scrapped, making it clear more big changes were ahead.

(To be fair to Gunn and Safran, it’s not like the DCEU was in the best shape to begin with. Remember that already filmed Batgirl movie the studio canned? Or the fact that The Flash has a very big Ezra Miller problem?)

Still, DC’s decision to ditch Cavill feels like such a smack in the face because it was only a few months ago that the studio re-committed to his take on Superman with a much hyped post-credits scene in the Dwayne Johnson starring Black Adam.

Worse yet, it was simultaneously announced Cavill would be stepping down from Netflix fantasy series The Witcher (replaced by Liam Hemsworth), seemingly freeing up his schedule for more DC movies.

Ouch. How could they do this to such a pretty face?

 

 

 

Of course, fans are pretty upset about the decision, especially the gays who—even if they don’t care about Superman—love an excuse to drool over Cavill on their screens.

Over on Twitter, the news has inspired a wave of support (and thirst) for the actor, with folks suggesting all sorts of new roles they’d like to see Cavill in next… including in their bed room. Here are just a few of the reactions that had us LOLing:

Alas, it’s the end of an era. But, before you get too upset, don’t forget that Henry Cavill looks like this, so we think he’s going to be just fine…