Henry Cavill says he's still the DCEU's Superman. Together with director Zack Snyder, the actor kicked off Warner Bros' own superhero interconnected universe via 2013's Man of Steel. The actor reprised the iconic DC role two more times in 2016's Batman V Superman: Dawn of Justice where he starred opposite Ben Affleck's Caped Crusader, and 2017's Justice League. Now, both Snyder and Affleck are officially out of the expanding franchise, but Cavill maintains that he remains its Kal-El/Clark Kent.
At this point, Warner Bros. have yet to confirm what's ahead for Cavill as Superman as there's still no word of Man of Steel 2 or any future appearance for that matter. Last year, news broke that Cavill is out of the DCEU, but things got a bit complicated when the studio and the actor's camp came out with their respective statements. Despite both denying reports of Cavill's exit, there has been no resolution to what's supposedly a contract dispute with regard to a potential deal extension.
Months have passed since fans heard any update regarding the situation, but in Cavill's latest interview with Men's Health, he insists that he's still the DCEU's Superman saying, “The cape is in the closet. It’s still mine.” The actor didn't give any new information about what's really going on behind closed doors between him and Warner Bros., but he added that there's still a lot of story left to tell for his Man of Steel.
“I’m not just going to sit quietly in the dark as all this stuff is going on. 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. The status is: You’ll see.”
Cavill's tone toward the statement sounded a bit more impassioned, especially when he mentioned that "there's a lot of justice to be done for Superman." It's difficult to gauge if this is a direct reference to how the character has been depicted in the DCEU, particularly in Justice League. Fans will remember the hero's weird upper lip for most of the film, stemming from its extensive reshoots after Joss Whedon stepped in to replace Snyder. By this time, Cavill was already in the middle of filming Mission: Impossible - Fallout, playing the movie's secret villain John Lark, who happened to sport the facial hair. Paramount refused to let him get rid of his facial hair, leaving Warner Bros. no choice but to digitally remove it during post-production. On top of that, his original arc in the film was supposed to be bigger and more significant than what it became in the theatrical version.
As fans hold onto Cavill's words about potentially resolving this situation with Warner Bros. soon, they can catch him on Netflix's The Witcher as Geralt of Rivia. The show has already been renewed for a second season before it even debuted, meaning he'll be busy working on the series for the foreseeable future. So, if Warner Bros. has any plans of bringing him back as Superman in the DCEU, they have to act fast. As for Cavill, perhaps it's also time he speaks up about the ongoing Release the Snyder Cut movement since most of his castmates have expressed their support for the movement.
Source: Men's Health
