Henry Cavill Talks Superman

Movies

Henry Cavill is keeping hope alive. In a conversation with MTV News’ Josh Horowitz at the 92^nd Street Y in New York, Cavill talked about his return as Superman to the DC movies. (Are we still calling it the DCEU? I guess that remains to be seen.) He discussed whether he thought it would happen, when he filmed his appearance in Black Adam, how he chose the suit he wore, and what’s in store for fans now that he’s back in the blue and red. You can watch the whole thing here, but the snippet about Superman is below:

“I’ve – quite rightly, otherwise I shouldn’t deserve to wear the cape – but I never gave up hope.”

It’s hard not to like Henry Cavill. He’s so genuine about these characters he plays, and the people behind the productions keep screwing him over. But the enthusiasm for him to play Superman again, even among those who hated the previous films (like me), demonstrates that people get it about him. And what excites me most about this talk is when he says we can look forward to “a bright future” with “an enormously joyful Superman.” It’s always smart to mix caution with your optimism, especially nowadays, but I’m excited to see what this new era of DC movies is like, and I think David Zaslav is gearing up for something very cool and much more in the spirit of who these heroes are supposed to be. As you get older, you start to notice things like patterns, pendulum swings, and the wisdom in phrases like “Things change.” That DC is (or may be) on this kind of creative, back-to-its-roots upswing while Marvel is going the opposite direction and receiving predictable results is an example of all three of those.

That bleeds over into how they treat their fans. I don’t doubt Cavill’s sincerity, but I wouldn’t be surprised if Warner Bros. Discovery is telling everyone involved in these movies to be encouraging, grateful, and excited, to tell fans to expect all the things they love. For example, look at this video (courtesy of Film Threat) of The Rock addressing the audience before a Black Adam screening in LA:

As with Cavill, The Rock is being The Rock, and I don’t want to diminish that, but I think Zaslav and his people are encouraging this kind of attitude. They’re in a position where they’ve got to win fans back, and I think we’ll see a lot more of this in the future. Compare it to Marvel, who just put together an entire series where their fans were the villains. Marvel is over the hump of attracting an audience, and they’re comfortable enough that they can insult the people who consume their product without fear that they’ll go away – at least, they think they are. Call the fans who made Endgame one of the biggest movies of all time “trolls” and see how excited they get for Ironheart.

His story about asking for permission from the Witcher producers to shoot the Black Adam cameo is similar to how he filmed the Justice League reshoots while Mission: Impossible – Fallout was in production, although this time, they didn’t have to contend with that mustache. (See what happens when you prioritize release dates over the finished product?) It was probably easier for them to shoot The Witcher around Cavill since, despite being the title character, he’s barely in it. Now, if Yennefer had to go, that would throw them into a tailspin. It’s funny, Cavill says he chose the Superman suit from Man of Steel to film the scene, but it seemed brighter in the movie. Maybe it was the lighting, or maybe they touched it up a little, but the effect was great regardless. For someone this committed to the character, it had to feel good to see the movie and hear John Williams’ iconic theme play as he made his return. I’m looking forward to seeing what comes next.