Henry Cavill was selected to play Superman in Zack Snyder’s DCU, starting with 2013’s Man of Steel. The character was supposed to have a long and dominant presence in Snyder’s DCU. However, Snyder’s first two DCU films, Man of Steel and Batman v Superman: Dawn of Justice, were very divisive among fans.
The drama behind 2017’s Justice League made things worse. After some hope was ignited by the improved Snyder’s version of Justice League, Cavill surprised everyone with his return as Superman in Dwayne Johnson’s Black Adam. Despite the tease of an exciting future, he got cut short yet again, and his tenure permanently ended abruptly in a disappointing fashion.
Was James Gunn Responsible for Cutting Short Henry Cavill’s Superman Future?
Henry Cavill surprised everyone as he returned as Superman in the end credits scene of Dwayne Johnson’s 2022 DC film Black Adam. Before the film was released, Johnson had teased that the hierarchy of power in the DCU was changing and the end credits scene proved that Black Adam and Superman could be the two powerhouses that would lead the future of the DCU.
Cavill was particularly very excited about his return. In an appearance on Live With Kelly & Ryan, the actor revealed that the scene was shot in secret in a studio where everything was locked and no one could go in or out. When asked about what he could tease about his future as Superman, Cavill played coy and stated that there were ‘murmurings’ of something big happening (maybe a second solo film). He said,
“It’s one of those things which we shot in secret in the U.K., and everyone amazingly kept quiet about it. We were at a studio, so it was all locked down. No one gets in. “I can’t say anything official on what will or won’t be happening, but there are murmurings. We’ll see.”
However, all these plans fell apart when James Gunn was announced as the co-CEO of DC Studios, and the DC brand was going for a reboot. After that, all plans for Black Adam and Cavill’s Superman future went out the window. Cavill’s already topsy-turvy tenure at DC came to a rather embarrassing and abrupt end with Gunn’s takeover.
While no one knows what happened behind the scenes, Johnson and Cavill may have been expecting that Gunn would continue their DC continuity. However, Gunn had a completely different plan and thus, while he did not directly put an end to a potential solo Superman film starring Cavill, his takeover of the brand certainly put an end to all pre-conceived plans.
Henry Cavill Promises His Highlander Reboot Will Go Deeper Into Its Mythology
Henry Cavill and John Wick franchise director Chad Stahelski are set to collaborate for the upcoming reboot of the 1986 action classic Highlander. Stahelski has time and again expressed his love for the franchise in both films and TV and wishes to begin a fresh spin for the modern audiences, Recently Cavill also weighed in on the exciting potential of the reboot.
In an appearance on the Happy Sad Confused podcast. Cavill revealed that while he loved the Highlander films as a kid, he recently rewatched them, including the TV series. He expressed his fascination with the lore of the franchise and the idea of a tragic warrior doing cool things, He stated that the upcoming reboot would go deeper into its mythology in new and exciting ways. He said,
“Obviously, I watched them when I was a lot younger, and have since rewatched. But also the TV show. I really enjoyed the lore behind it. That sense of a tragic warrior, with more of a story to tell than just a cool guy with a cool sword doing cool things. And this goes even deeper into that,”
After his recent release, Argylle, Cavill will next be seen in Guy Ritchie’s The Ministry of Ungentlemanly Warfare opposite Alan Ritchson and Eiza González, releasing in theatres on April 19, 2024. He will reunite with Ritchie and González yet again in an upcoming untitled action film that will also star Jake Gyllenhaal. The film will be released in theaters on January 17, 2025
