Henry Cavill’s journey as Superman has been a roller coaster. He played the character first in 2013’s introductory chapter of DC Extended Universe (now DC Universe), Man of Steel. He went on to play the character two more times, in Batman v. Superman and Justice League. However, after the critical and commercial failure of the latter, the franchise changed course, and Superman was lost in limbo. He returned for Zack Snyder’s Justice League reshoots, but that film has been declared a cul-de-sac.
Finally, after five years, Henry Cavill has returned as Kal-El/Superman. The actor appeared in a cameo appearance in Black Adam and later confirmed his return to the franchise in a public video. Fans are certainly joy upon watching Cavill don the red cape again. But Cavill is more than happy about it and wishes that his streak as DCU’s Son of Krypton continues.
Talking to Extra TV, Cavill expressed gratitude towards fans for supporting his portrayal for all these years. Acknowledging Superman’s worldwide approach, Cavill said,
It obviously means a lot, and I mean Superman is—he's the guy. He's that character who I think almost every culture will know if you say Superman in English in it to anyone from any country who speaks any language, they're going to understand the concept of what it means.
Praising the significance of Superman in his career, he said he wished he could do justice to the character for many years to come. Cavill addressed how it’s very humbling for him to play Superman again and said,
It's so—and I don't throw this around often, because I think a lot of people throw it around—but it is humbling to be the guy who gets to be the custodian of that character once again and, hopefully for many years to come as long as I do justice by the character.
Since Man of Steel, Cavill has been a fan favorite as Superman. While the film and its subsequent follow-ups were subjected to mixed responses, Cavill’s iteration of Superman was on par with expectations. And now that he is back, there is a huge potential for his character to grow individually in DC Universe while also forming new relations with other franchise’s characters.
Cavill Would Love to Dig Further into Superman
Until now, Cavill has had just one solo movie. After Man of Steel, the character appears in follow-ups or crossovers. Superman hasn’t gotten a fair chance to explore his lore from the comics in this live-action universe/multiverse. With his return to the series, Henry Cavill now wishes that he’ll be able to explore further into Superman and offer the audience a more thorough take on their favorite character.
It's just a pleasure to be back to be honest. And I'm so excited to dig further into this character and to explore this character some more and make that I give the audience everything that they deserve with this character.
The Black Adam cameo does open up possibilities of several stories that could feature Superman within the DCU. And one of them is the exciting Black Adam-Superman showdown. But it would be better if the fans get the long-awaited Man of Steel 2. Under Zack Snyder, Superman would feature in Man of Steel 2, fighting Brainiac. Though Snyder’s film never got picked up, it would be some experience watching Superman take on Brainiac in his solo movie.