DC’s Henry Cavill Says He “Never Gave Up Hope” About Superman Return

Black Adam hit theatres over the weekend, and it was the start of a new era for Henry Cavill’s Superman. Aside from Zack Snyder’s Justice League, Black Adam marks Cavill’s first appearance in the DCEU since the original Justice League was released in 2017. For the past few years, it’s been unclear if The Witcher star would return as the Man of Steel, but it was finally confirmed this week that he is coming back to the role in more than just a cameo capacity. Today, Cavill participated in a live taping of Josh Horowitz’s Happy Sad Confused podcast during a benefit for The 92nd Street Y in New York and talked about never giving up on the idea of coming back to the role.

“I think there is the thing which every actor has to build into their psyche, which is the ‘If it doesn’t happen again I’m not going to let it crush me,’ because we get told no a lot. It’s all part of the job. And with this, it meant so much to me and I thought, ‘I’m gonna let it sit and simmer in the background. I’m going to put the cape in the closet and let it stay there, and when time comes it’s ready.’ I never lost hope and that was the key bit for me. When I would go out to the supermarket or something and someone would say ‘Hey, Superman!’ it never felt dishonest. I never felt like I was living a lie, and so I never gave up hope and it was always there, just waiting for the time to come back,” Cavill shared.

“How you guys expressed it is exactly how I feel,” Cavill said after the crowd cheered about his comeback “The character means so much to me. It’s been five years now, and quite rightly, otherwise I probably shouldn’t deserve to wear the cape but I never gave up hope and it’s amazing to be here now talking about it again. There is such a bright future ahead for the character. I’m so excited to tell a story with an enormously joyful Superman.”

How Did Henry Cavill End Up in Black Adam?

Last week, The Hollywood Reporter published a detailed look at the current state of DC movies at Warner Bros. DC Films boss Walter Hamada left the company, and it was announced yesterday that James Gunn and Peter Safran have been tapped as the co-chairs and co-CEOs of DC Studios, a new entity formed to replace the ailing DC Films. However, it was Warner Bros. film bosses Michael De Luca and Pam Abd who ultimately helped Dwayne Johnson get the Cavill cameo. Hamada reportedly didn’t want the cameo to happen because he wanted to move away from the Snyder era of the DCEU. When he said no, Johnson went above Hamada and asked De Luca and Abdy to make the cameo happen. They said yes, the deal was done around Labor Day, and they shot the scene last month.

“We fought for years to bring you back,” Johnson wrote on Twitter. “They always said no. But to [Dany and Hiram Garcia] & myself ‘no’ was not an option. We can’t build out our DCEU w/out the world’s greatest superhero. And fans will always come first.” 

Black Adam is now playing in theatres.