After a decade spent in the role, Henry Cavill’s flight as Superman has officially come to an end. It was a bumpy road that saw years of back and forth behind the scenes, with Cavill never getting the chance to really embrace the character to the extent that he and a lot of fans had hoped. Things were just starting to look up for Cavill’s Superman, as he was just reintroduced into the DC films through the end credits sequence attached to Black Adam. Cavill even took to social media after the film’s release to proclaim his return to the character. However, with the hiring of James Gunn and Peter Safran as the co-leads of the newly formed DC Studios, everything at DC is undergoing an immense shakeup. With that, Cavill and Gunn have both confirmed that the actor will, in fact, not be returning to the role of Superman, bringing a definitive end to his time sporting the iconic red cape and blue spandex.
Despite the immense ups and downs of Cavill’s run with Superman, he did appear in a handful of different projects. While only one of them was a standalone film, Cavill appeared on-screen as Superman in more films than even the legendary Christopher Reeve did (we consider the theatrical Justice League from 2017 and Zack Snyder’s Justice League to be different movies in this household). Cavill’s Superman made quite the impression throughout his numerous appearances in the DCEU, with some people considering him to be the best on-screen Superman that we’ve ever gotten. Looking back on Cavill’s time with the character, now that it’s conclusively finished, we can view his run as a complete collection. Here is how each appearance of Cavill’s Superman in the DCEU ranks:
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6 Shazam! / Peacemaker
Warner Bros. Pictures
So, the inclusion of the appearances of Cavill’s Superman in Shazam! and Peacemaker is only included on this list as a technicality. That’s because Cavill wasn’t actually involved with either of these appearances. That’s right, there were not one, but two different occasions in the DCEU when a Superman cameo was shot and included in the final cut, even though the actor who played Superman was not on board with it. The Shazam! cameo is much more infamous, as, after the film spent a lot of time building up the cameo, the Man of Steel appears with his head cropped out of frame. The scene is meant as a final gag in the comedic film before the credits roll, and in that sense, it works. It is a funny end to one of the most underrated DC movies in recent memory. But, for fans of Cavill’s Superman, the scene is a gut-punch reminder of all the behind-the-scenes drama that kept him out of the role for so long.
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The same goes for Superman’s appearance in Peacemaker, which was even directed by Gunn. Thankfully, though, this inclusion was less painful as the character only appears as a silhouette alongside the rest of the Justice League. It’s clearly him that’s there, but the audience can barely even make out any detail on the suit, much less the face of the person wearing it. The scene then shifts focus to Jason Momoa’s Aquaman and Ezra Miller’s The Flash, as those two actors were actually there to film the scene. These two scenes were clearly meant to include Cavill’s Superman, which is why we put them on this list. The fact that Cavill didn’t actually film anything for them is why they are at the bottom.
5 Black Adam
Warner Bros.
Now for the one Superman cameo that Cavill actually was there for. After five years since his last theatrical appearance, Cavill’s Superman finally returned to screens with the Dwayne Johnson Black Adam film that hit theaters in October 2022. Rumors had swirled about Cavill’s inclusion in the film for months prior to its release. Wen the movie actually came out and his scene was unveiled, it was…fine. There’s really nothing to it. It’s the kind of scene that is very obviously just thrown together and slapped onto the end of the film to try and create some momentum for a potential Black Adam sequel.
While it was cool to see Cavill back in his suit from Man of Steel, the scene itself was just empty calories. After a threatening conversation between Johnson’s Black Adam and Viola Davis’ Amanda Waller, Cavill’s Superman flies in and Cavill delivers two lines while the classic John Williams Superman theme plays. There’s no actual story to the scene. Yeah, it was great to have Cavill in the suit again, but it was quite literally just seeing him for five seconds. There’s really not much substance to it. It’s clearly a post-credit scene that is there only in an attempt to get audiences excited about the potential of a future movie that, we know now, is never going to happen.
4 Justice League
Okay, onto the first entry on this list where Cavill’s Superman actually has a role to play. 2017’s Justice League was the third outing for the character, and it has become one of the most infamous. That’s because, in most scenes that the character appears in, the audience is distracted by the notoriously bad CGI covering his face. In what has come to be known as “mustache-gate,” Cavill was sporting a thick mustache throughout all the extensive re-shoots for the Justice League film. This is because he was also in the middle of shooting Mission: Impossible – Fallout at the time, and he was not allowed to shave his mustache because of that. As a result, the digital effects teams on Justice League were tasked with removing a burly mustache from almost every scene that Superman was in.
Beyond that, Superman also doesn’t have a terribly large role to play in Justice League, considering he’s dead for the first two-thirds of the movie. When he finally does reappear in the last act, the 2017 Justice League is probably the closest fans have come to seeing Cavill play the classic version of Superman, similar to Reeve’s version. He’s a lighthearted and hopeful character that brings a wholesome and optimistic atmosphere to the film. While not all the dialogue he’s given is great, as Joss Whedon’s quip-ridden sense of humor is a strange fit for the character, there are some genuinely great Superman scenes that can be found in 2017’s Justice League. If it weren’t for the mustache, it’d actually be easy to say that Superman was the character that came out of that version of the film looking the best.
3 Zack Snyder’s Justice League
Zack Snyder’s Justice League is better than the theatrical version of the film in a number of ways, but one of the most apparent is how the film treats Superman. While there were some great scenes with the character in the 2017 version of the film, that version was a sudden and stark departure from how Cavill’s Superman had been portrayed in all the films leading up to it. Zack Snyder’s Justice League saw Snyder and Cavill finally rounding out a trilogy of sorts for the character. As such, the depiction of Superman in this film feels much more in line with what was presented in Man of Steel and Batman v. Superman. The Superman presented in Snyder’s Justice League is a much more natural and genuine progression of the version of the character that was seen in the previous films, and the film saw the character fully evolve into the great hero he was gradually becoming throughout the entire series.
Zack Snyder’s Justice League also has the added benefit of not having to deal with bad CGI covering Superman’s face most of the time. Plus, Cavill also gets a lot more screen time, which is a natural result of the film being over four hours long, over twice the length of the theatrical version. While the character of Superman reappears at approximately the same point in the plot, there are a lot more scenes that follow and develop him immediately after. Cavill also gives an incredibly strong performance in the role, as he injects plenty of his own heart and personality into this immensely stoic character.
2 Batman v. Superman: Dawn of Justice
In his second outing as the character, Cavill was given the monumental task of standing toe-to-toe with Batman. It was the first real test of Cavill’s take on Superman. He had to share the screen with the legendary caped crusader, portrayed by the immensely talented Ben Affleck. That would be a tall order for anyone, but Cavill proved he was more than capable of taking on the task. Even though Batman v. Superman: Dawn of Justice is much more of a Batman film, as the film is immersed in Snyder’s exceedingly dark take on Batman and Gotham City, Cavill’s Superman is able to bring some much-needed levity to the film.
Many of Cavill’s finest moments in the role of Superman come from Batman v. Superman. Whether it be him actually getting to be Clark Kent the reporter (of which there is much more seen in the extended cut), his romantic chemistry with Amy Adams’ Lois Lane, or his emotional sacrifice at the end of the film, there are some truly outstanding Superman sequences in the film. Plus, there’s also the added drama that comes from the character being dragged into ethical, philosophical and governmental debates. It’s some of the weightiest Superman material that has been presented on-screen, and Cavill really sinks his teeth into it. While the Superman presented in Batman v. Superman may not be the ever-joyful boy scout that audiences are used to, Cavill really did the best he could with that version of the character.
1 Man of Steel
It’s a cruel fate that the best showing of Cavill’s Superman would end up being his first outing in the role, but such is the way of things. As divisive as it may have been upon its release, and may still be, Man of Steel is a fresh and modern reconstruction of Superman and Clark Kent as a character. He’s brought down to Earth, made into an everyday man, given his own distinct personality, and forced to confront his own personal and moral dilemmas. He’s a conflicted character who doesn’t know what his purpose is or what he wants it to be. Over the course of the film, he grows into the iconic superhero that we all love. With this version of the character, there could have been no better choice for the role than Cavill.
Cavill’s performance in Man of Steel is nothing short of exceptional. He was the perfect Superman for the modern age, as he melded the traditional optimism and good ol’ boy nature of the character with a 21st-century sensibility and maturity. He still kept the core spirit of the character that has made Superman into the icon he is, but he also brought a newfound coolness to the role that made him instantly likable. Man of Steel served as an excellent launching pad for Cavill’s version of Superman. Sadly, the character was just never able to take off in the way he had the potential to.
Perhaps if Man of Steel had been followed with a direct sequel, rather than jumping straight into Batman v. Superman, we’d be having a different conversation. Unfortunately, with Cavill no longer attached to the role, Man of Steel 2now joins the myriad of failed Superman movies that never got off the ground. Looking back on Cavill’s tenure as Superman, the character may not have flown as high as fans had hoped he would; however, there were still some awe-inspiring moments along the way. This is particularly true of Man of Steel, which deserves to be considered among the best superhero films of the last decade. Even though we’ll never see Cavill back in the cape again, at least there will always be Man of Steel.
