It's Rumor Time: Is Henry Cavill's Superman actually coming back for Black Adam?

It’s been 5 years since Henry Cavill last appeared as Superman in Warner Media’s DC Comics Universe of films—having last donned the cape and tights for the Joss Whedon version of Justice League back in 2017. Today, though, rumors have begun to re-circulate—shortly after the world premiere in Mexico City of Dwayne Johnson’s Black Adam—that Cavill might be set to make his return for a meeting with Johnson’s old-school anti-hero.

If these rumors sound familiar, it’s because they’ve been circulating for a while now, with lots of speculation that Cavill might pop up at Warner’s panel at San Diego Comic-Con this year. (He didn’t.) Now, as critics prepare to actually watch Johnson’s entry into the wider cinematic universe, the tempo of speculation has begun to pick up again, with accounts known for leaking high-profile superhero stuff claiming that Cavill will pop up in an after-credits scene—and with some sources asserting that the deal only happened because Johnson insisted that Cavill’s Superman appear in his movie. (The actor was notably absent from 2019's Shazam!, which had its own Superman cameo—but only from the neck down.)

And while this is all unfounded speculation (at least for a little while longer; we’ll presumably actually know, one way or another, once the movie’s been in front of critics for a minute), it does allow us to camp out on one of our favorite details from these leaked reports: The “fact” that Cavill’s return will be accompanied by John Williams’ iconic theme for the character, and the frothingly angry responses from some Zack Snyder fans over having that piece of music be used instead of Hans Zimmers’ theme for the Cavill version of The Man Of Steel. Never change, Snyder fans.

Black Adam opens in U.S. theaters on October 21.