The actor confirmed in December the "sad news" he had been dropped, just months after announcing his return.
But Gunn, who recently took over the superhero franchise alongside Peter Safran, said on Tuesday that they didn't fire Cavill, but rather simply did not hire him for further projects.
BBC reports he made the comments while announcing a raft of new DC movies and TV shows.
"We didn't fire Henry," Gunn told journalists. "Henry was never cast.
