Henry Cavill was once excited about the idea of his Superman being a part of a live-action cinematic Justice League. But he felt a movie was only doable under a few conditions.
2017’s ‘Justice League’ put Henry Cavill in an awkward position
Zack Snyder and Cavill’s 2013 feature Man of Steel was once the beginning of a new DC cinematic universe. The depths of that universe started to expand in the Man of Steel sequel Batman v Superman. As the title suggested, the sequel pitted Cavill’s Superman against Ben Affleck’s Batman, while introducing other comic book heroes to audiences.
Batman v Superman’s storyline would lead into the 2017 film Justice League, which Joss Whedon took over from Snyder to direct. But the way Batman v Superman ended made it particularly hard for Cavill to promote Justice League. The studio didn’t want anyone to officially know that Cavill would be in Whedon’s superhero feature, which made interviews difficult to navigate.
“It was one of those weird situations where I guess… no one really knew what they wanted, and it was like ‘Hey, we need Henry on the press tour, but let’s not tell anyone he’s in the movie,’” Cavill explained on Empire podcast. “I was like ‘Okay, well, it’s going to be super awkward for me, guys. Thank you for giving me an impossible scenario. I’m just going to say to people: ‘Well, yeah, I was here for moral support. I made the tea. I made the tea for an entire movie.’ I’m pretty sure that no one bought it.”
Henry Cavill didn’t want ‘Justice League’ coming out too soon after ‘Man of Steel’
Cavill was well aware that a Justice League film might’ve been possible sometime after Man of Steel. But as much as he may have liked that possibility, he felt that great care was required to make the film work. Especially given the nature and powerset of DC comics’ heavy-hitters.
“Justice League could be great if done correctly. It’s a very tough one to do because the DC comic heroes are all god-like in their power. So in this real world universe, real-world setting we’re telling our story in, it’s going to be tough to achieve that,” Cavill once said in an interview with ABC News (via Vulture).
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Cavill felt one of the worst things that could’ve been done for a Justice League movie would be to rush its release.
“It has to be done very delicately with a lot of thought. So, it won’t be right away. I hope it’s not, anyway. It may take some time of building up other movies and other characters and introducing them together in one way or another. … I think it would be great to do, but I don’t think it’s around the corner,” he said.
It was a sentiment that Man of Steel director Snyder shared.
“Listen, I said to [Warner Bros.], ‘My feeling about the DC universe and about Superman in general, is that Superman’s gotta work,’” he once recalled in an interview with Collider. “Right? When Superman works, then you can talk about your Green Lanterns and your Aquamen and whatever else you want to do.”
What Henry Cavill thought of Zack Snyder’s ‘Justice League’
Passionate DCEU fans were finally able to see Zack Snyder’s completed version of his Justice League on HBO Max. The feature was a strong departure from Joss Whedon’s take. Cavill was one of many who watched Snyder’s vision for the film, which moved the actor on a deeper level.
“I really enjoyed it,” Cavill said in an interview with Fox 5 Washington DC. “I thought it was a wonderful way of Zack getting his version of the story out, and important to do too. And I thought there was a wonderful tenderness to the movie which existed and that was essential for the representation of Superman.”
