DC fans the world over are celebrating after British actor Henry Cavill made a surprise announcement about his long-awaited return to play the most beloved superhero of all time, Superman.

Cavill, 39, who last flew the skies more than five years ago, waited until after the premiere of No.1 global hit Black Adam at the weekend – in which a post-credits scene revealed Cavill coming out of superhero retirement to stare down Dwayne Johnson’s black-clad antihero.

In recent days, the Superman cameo was the entertainment industry’s worst-kept secret, but Cavill making his return as the Man of Steel official sent fans into a frenzy.

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Cavill gave little away, only showing a ripped side-on image of him on Instagram in the blue and red costume, before telling fans what the future holds.

“I wanted to give you all a chance to watch Black Adam,” he wrote.

“Now that plenty of you have, 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 are just a very small taste of things to come.

“There’s a lot to be thankful for, and I’ll get to that in time, but I wanted to thank you guys most of all. Thank you for your support and thank you for your patience. I promise it will be rewarded.”

DC Comics simply posted a love-heart emoji in response, with the words: “Welcome back”.

‘Welcome home’

Cavill impressed big time when he played Superman in Zack Snyder’s Man of Steel in 2013 opposite Amy Adams, followed by Batman v Superman: Dawn of Justice, Justice League and the HBO Max director’s cut.

The films grossed $US2.2 billion ($3.47 billion)worldwide.

Johnson may have had a strong hand in reprising a role for Cavill, telling multiple entertainment websites at recent red carpet events he fought long and hard for Cavill as Superman to once again be the “most unstoppable force in the universe”.

“We’ve established Black Adam as the most powerful and unstoppable force on our planet.

“But the fans have been so passionate about, as we have been, where’s the most unstoppable force in the universe? Where is he?,” he told Entertainment Tonight.

The Rock wants to see both villain go up against each other in a Superman v Black Adam movie, telling USA Today, “dude, that was always the plan”.

“If we do that right, let’s take the most beloved superhero in the world, of all time, that’s been idle and sitting on the sideline for five years.

“Let’s fight, and let’s not take no for an answer and let’s bring him back.”

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No name, no director or writer for a feature-length film

Cavill (The Witcher, Mission Impossible – Fallout) has also long been keen to reprise his role of Superman.

In an interview with Men’s Health in 2020, Cavill said the cape was still in his wardrobe.

“I’ve not given up the role. There’s a lot I have to give for Superman yet. A lot of storytelling to do”.

“A lot of real, true depths to the honesty of the character I want to get into. I want to reflect the comic books. That’s important to me. There’s a lot of justice to be done for Superman.”

However, Deadline reports Cavill is still in final talks with the Warner Bros studio.

“There’s no Man of Steel 2 yet as there’s no director or writer, but this is the way the universe is moving,” the studio has said.

Either way, the image Cavill shared, he said, was “a very small taste of what’s to come … the dawn of hope renewed”.