Tucked away among the concept art in Justice League: The Art of the Film is a never-released “hero shot” of Henry Cavill, seemingly ready to spring into action either during the film’s big battle with Steppenwolf or perhaps when Superman was first revived from the dead.
Videos by ComicBook.com
You can check it out below.
“For me, this film in particular has drally drawn closer to the Superman character who we know and recognize from the comic books,” the book quotes Cavill as saying. “I’ve enjoyed playing that enormously, playing that character of hope and optimism, inspiration and example.”
Director Zack Snyder, who also helmed Man of Steel and Batman v Superman: Dawn of Justice, has long suggested that Justice League would be the film where the DC heroes seen and teased in his earlier films would come into their final, most recognizable forms.
A look at Justice League as the third part of a “Superman Trilogy,” it (and particularly that final monologue by Lois Lane) feels like the changes made in this film make even more sense, as to an extent what we see from Man of Steel through now exhibits multiple facets of the modern comic book Superman.
In Justice League, when pressed by Alfred as to why it was so important to resurrect Superman, Batman gives a variety of answers that fail to pass muster with his father figure. One of them, finally, connects. The answer?
“He’s more human than I am,” Batman says. “He lived in this world, fell in love, had a job, despite all that power.”
“The world needs Superman,” Bruce adds. “The team needs Clark.”
That fundamental part of most modern interpretations of Superman had never really made it to the big screen before Snyder: the idea that Batman is the real guy, and Bruce Wayne is the mask he wears in the daytime. Superman, meanwhile, is a costume that Clark Kent puts on.
Batman is driven by guilt and rage and his truest, most recognizable self is the one who dresses up in body armor and pummels people who remind him of the guy who killed his parents. He wears the costume to strike fear into the heart of criminals who are, by nature, “a superstitious and cowardly lot.”
Superman, on the other hand, just does what he does because it’s the right thing to do, and he can.
Justice League is in theaters now and is expected to hit digital, DVD and Blu-ray in February.
