Henry Cavill Wants To Play Captain Britain in the Marvel Cinematic Universe

Henry Cavill would like to play the Captain Britain of the Marvel Cinematic Universe. Cavill is known for playing Superman, the Man of Steel, in the DC Extended Universe. However, with his time as the last son of Krypton currently on hold as Warner Bros. explores other iterations of the character, including Val-Zod and another take on Clark Kent, Cavill admits that there's at least one Marvel Comics character he'd be happy to portray on the big screen. Cavill is himself British and would love to update Brian Braddock, Marvel's Captain Britain, for audiences the way the MCU has already done with Captain America.

"I'm never going to say a Marvel character that is already being played by someone else," Cavill tells The Hollywood Reporter when asks about potentially joining the MCU, "because everyone's doing such an amazing job. However, I have the internet and I have seen the various rumors about Captain Britain and that would be loads of fun to do a cool, modernized version of that — like the way they modernized Captain America. There's something fun about that, and I do love being British."

While nothing official is known to be in the works, there have been rumblings about Captain Britain joining the MCU at various times and in different forms. Avengers: Endgame may have included a Captain Britain Easter egg (the directors remain coy about it). Kevin Feige confirmed that there's at least been internal discussion about Captain Britain's role in the Marvel Universe. 

One previous rumor from 2018 suggested that a Captain Britain and the Black Knight movie might be in the planning, which is particularly interesting since Kit Harington made his debut as Dane Whitman, the Black Knight, in Marvel's Eternals movie. In the comics, Captain Britain and the Black Knight served together in MI13, a British government task force formed to defend the nation against supernatural and extraterrestrial threats.

However, even if Marvel does have plans for Captain Britain, that doesn't necessarily mean they're looking at Brian Braddock. In the comics, Brian's sister, Betsy Braddock, recently became Captain Britain, with Brian becoming Captain Avalon instead. In What If…?, the MCU introduced an alternate reality Peggy Carter who received the super-soldier serum and became Captain Carter, donning some of the regalia associated with Captain Britain.

However, even if Marvel did cast Brian Braddock, Cavill would have some competition. Some other actors have also expressed interest in the role.

Chris Claremont and Herb Trimpe created Captain Britain for Marvel Comics. Originally intended as a hero who would exclusively appear in Marvel's British publications, Brian eventually became a member of the X-Men spinoff team Excalibur, operating within the United Kingdom. Captain Britain's adventures often deal with Arthurian legend, magic, and the multiverse, which sounds right up The Witcher star's alley.

Would you like to see Henry Cavill play Captain Britain in the Marvel Cinematic Universe? Let us know what you think in the comments.