DC Finally Confirms Future of Henry Cavill Superman Movies
More than six years after Superman last appeared in the title of a film, Warner Bros. and DC appear ready to turn the corner with Henry Cavill….
This article contains Black Adam spoilers.
Look, up in the sky. It’s a bird! No, it’s a plane! No, it’s the social media cloud of millions of DC fans rejoicing because Superman is coming back to the big screen! Finally.
Five years after Henry Cavill last donned the red and blue tights in the much maligned Justice League theatrical cut of 2017, and more than six since Superman got to be a marquee name (while sharing space with Batman), DC Comics’ Man of Tomorrow finally can look forward to a tomorrow on the big screen. This was strongly teased during the now infamous post-credits scene in Black Adam where Cavill came out of superhero retirement to stare down Dwayne Johnson’s black-clad antihero.
And now the Monday morning after Black Adam’s opening weekend, Cavill has taken to his own Instagram page to share some behind-the-scenes footage of himself back in the classic red and blue, and some words that strongly confirm Superman is heading once more to cinemas… eventually.
“I wanted to give you all a chance to watch Black Adam,” Cavill said in the IG video. “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. So 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.”
Cavill’s little speech was obviously intended to pay homage to those who’ve kept the flame alive in hoping the actor would return to the role of Superman after Justice League. Such hopes had long seemed dim with Warner Bros. Pictures pivoting away from the character after three financial disappointments in a row between Man of Steel (2013), Batman v Superman: Dawn of Justice (2016), and Justice League. Of course, it can be strongly argued, it was the approach to the character in those films (particularly the third uneven one with a digitally removed mustache) that muted audience excitement instead of the character or even the performance itself.
In 2019, Shazam! famously ended with a pseudo-cameo of Superman… but not Cavill. Instead the camera saw the familiar S-emblem, but the superhero wearing it had his head cut off by the frame. Apparently, Cavill was offered the chance to appear onscreen in that movie, reprising the role, but it did not work out and rumors swirled that Cavill wouldn’t agree to a cameo unless there were plans to use Superman in his own movie again.
While those rumors were never confirmed, Cavill said the following in an interview with Men’s Health in 2019: “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.”
Given Cavill’s return and his insistence that fan patience will be rewarded, it seems Cavill really is about to get his chance to play Superman again… and in more than a cameo.
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David Crow is the movies editor at Den of Geek. He has long been proud of his geek credentials. Raised on cinema classics that ranged from…