There have been rumors about this for awhile but apparently the fix is in that Henry Cavill will not be reprising his role as Superman.
Apparently.
Well, is he or is he ain't?
We will get to that.
But as why Cavill's future as Superman is hazy.....
Here's the thing: Henry Cavill has played Superman in some really bad movies.
Man of Steel
I can't lie about this one. There are posts in the archives of this very blog with me defending this movie. I still stand by certain assessments I made at the time; I even defended Superman's action in killing Zod, for crying out loud.
But my "appreciation" of this movie has diminished over time with my concerns with the structure of the movie. Man of Steel does not allow for time to develop Superman as a hero in the world before Zod and his super powered minions strike. He basically comes out to the world as Superman because he's forced to by the arrival of the Kryptonians. The idea that he puts on the cape to just go out to help people and be a symbol of what is good is lost.
Superman's action to kill Zod would've carried more weight if we had spent some time seeing Superman's hero career demonstrating his devotion to saving lives and his refusal to take a life. Killing Zod (which I still say Supes was in a harsh no-win situation and had no choice) would've been seen as more of a sacrifice of his ideals.
Also no one in the movie calls him Superman.
But on the plus side, Henry Cavill was really good as Superman. I just wish he had better written things to do. And we got shafted on some classic Clark Kent at the Daily Planet.
Batman Vs. Superman: Dawn of Justice
Enough has been written about how badly this movie sucks.
Henry Cavill, to my mind, brought strength and humanity to Superman and we got a little bit of classic Clark time that Henry seem to do OK with. But once more, Cavill's efforts were in service to shoddy plotting and shoddier dialogue.
Justice League
This is as close to as we get with Henry Cavill as an ideal Superman with the actor getting some prime set pieces demonstrating Superman's humanity, his humor and his compassion along with his power.
The post credit sequence when Superman meets up with the Flash for a race is perhaps Cavill's shining moment as a quintessential Man of Steel.
While Justice League was a marginal improvement over BVS, it was still lacking as a crowd pleasing epic and struggled at the box office.
As an actor, I think Henry Cavill was a fine choice to portray our favorite Kryptonian. He just had the misfortune to portray our favorite Kryptonian in movies that sucked.
I think Henry Cavill just got caught up in the gears of the Warner Bros. machinery that just doesn't seem to have a clue as to what to do with Superman and the other iconic characters of DC Comics. Warner Bros. got lucky with Wonder Woman which defied the gravity of other DC cinematic misfires. I hope they get lucky again when Aquaman swims into theaters later this year. And will lightning strike when Shazam arrives in April next year?
Unlike Marvel Studios which has followed a long term plan, Warner Bros. and DC do a lot of wishing and hoping and trying to figure any damn thing that will work.
Right now, it looks like the studio is asking, do we even need a Superman?
The company we know of today as DC existed before Superman came along but most of its success and longevity rests on Superman's red caped back. But for the movies, maybe not so much.
Marvel showed the way by developing movies based on characters with little or no awareness outside the comics. Looking at Marvel's success in the movie theaters with this approach and looking at DC's success on TV over on the CW, Warners probably thinking, do we really need our big guns to make this work?
Or maybe the execs at Warners aren't thinking. Maybe they're staring desperately at Magic 8 balls looking for guidance.
And maybe Henry Cavill isn't gone?
The Hollywood Reporter broke the story that Henry Cavill would no longer portray Superman in the DC cinematic universe.
Then Warner Bros. issued a statement that “no decisions have been made regarding any upcoming Superman films,".
Then Henry Cavill appears in a video on Instagram wearing a “Krypton Lifting Team” t-shirt and holding a Superman action figure. Cavill stares directly into the camera (with those beautiful soul piercing blue eyes of his) as dogs bark ‘The Blue Danube’. Which translates as....what?
Warner Bros is shaking their Magic 8 balls again?
Future hazy. Try again later.
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UPDATED 09/14/2018, 11:55 AM
Warner Bros. statement:
“While no decisions have been made regarding any upcoming Superman films, we’ve always had great respect for and a great relationship with Henry Cavill, and that remains unchanged.”
Dany Garcia, Henry Cavill's manager:
“Be peaceful, the cape is still in his closet.”
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