Superman has seen many adaptations over the decades. One version that has had particularly impressive staying power is that of the now-defunct DCEU’s Henry Cavill. The franchise hasn’t enjoyed the greatest critical acclaim, but one aspect often considered a high point is that of Cavill’s Clark Kent. Certainly, his portrait, particularly in Batman v Superman– was often controversial because of its general austerity, but from its beginnings in Man of Steelthe general consensus was that he was a good choice for the role.
Cavill’s days as a character are long gone. However, new content from the previous DC era is still coming to light thanks to Zack Snyder. The director has been sharing pictures of his previous DC films on social networks. Today, the director shared a new photo on Instagram, this time of Henry Cavill as the Last Son of Krypton. Subtitle, “Henry in his natural setting,“ the photo shows a film roll with shots of Cavill as Superman in what appears to be Batman v Superman: Dawn of Justice (given the actor’s hairstyle):
The film is due to Man of Steel And Batman v Superman being shot on film.
Snyder has always been public about his love for Henry Cavill as the Last Son of Krypton. In October, the director captioned a photo he posted about Cavill’s Superman with: “Henry Cavill is Superman.” Talk to AND! News to 2013 Man of Steel premiere in New York, Snyder explained what led him to cast Cavill as Superman:
“Well, first of all, he’s not horribly ugly. […] And it wasn’t in bad shape. And then, he’s a great actor, but he also has this other thing, this kind of serious genius that is inexplicable. And that’s what you’re looking for. I think with Superman, you can’t hope for anything more than to have that little extra that makes him special.”
Man of Steel Producer Deborah Snyder explained what made Cavill the right choice for the Big Blue Boy Scout, sharing: “The deciding factor was that our costume wasn’t ready, and we were doing a screen test, so we put him in Christopher Reeve’s old costume, because that’s all we had. And even though that costume was several years old, he put it on, came out of the trailer, and everyone was in awe of him. And we knew in that moment that he was our Superman.”
When he returns as the Man of Steel in 2022 Black AdamHenry Cavill was very vocal about his passion for the character. As such, losing the role after being so publicly announced as getting it back was a difficult situation. However, the actor took the news professionally. During a conversation about the Happy Sad Confused podcast, host Josh Horowitz asked Gunn what it was like to be forced to tell Cavill that he wasn’t going to play Superman anymore. Gunn explained the circumstances that led to DC’s change of direction in the film and praised the actor for how he took the news:
“It’s terrible. So, we were trying to figure out if we could take the job at DC Studios, and we were talking with David Zaslav, and all the lawyers there, to figure out what our deals would be. And the day our deal was done, all of a sudden they announced that Henry was back, and I was like, ‘What’s going on?’ We know what the plan is” – the plan was to go in and do Superman. So it was really unfair to him, and it was a total disappointment. […] So yeah, we went in and it was a real shame. I’m like, “This poor guy. » And so, Pierre [Safran] and me [said]“The right thing to do is sit down with him and talk to him.” And we sat down, we talked to him. He was an absolute gentleman, a great guy about it. He said, ‘The only thing I ask is that I can reveal it myself rather than having it come from you.'”
Although Cavill’s time as Superman ended sooner than he and his fans hoped, he at least got to play the Man of Steel in three separate feature films (four, if you’re counting). Zack Snyder’s Justice League).
Superman will return to the big screen in The man of tomorrowscheduled for release on July 9, 2027.
