Dwayne Johnson, the star of Black Adam, claims that Henry Cavill’s Superman is crucial to the expansion of the DC Universe. Cavill made a comeback to the DCU (previously known as the DCEU) in the Black Adam film as his interpretation of Superman after being absent from the franchise since 2017. Although it was last-minute, the British actor dressed as the Man of Steel for a quick but important post-credits sequence where he met Johnson’s antihero. However, as Cavill himself stated, it was simply a preview of what was to come for his interpretation of the DC icon.
Johnson posted a special video message on Twitter this week concerning the future of his brand following the surprise digital release of Black Adam. Johnson praised Cavill’s Superman while avoiding any spoilers or suggestions as to what would happen in the future. As there was a heated debate over Superman’s participation in the movie, the Black Adam actor made it clear that Cavill’s portrayal of the character is crucial to developing the larger DC Universe, sharing the following:
“We have to bring back the most powerful, unstoppable force of all time in any universe. You guys know who I’m talking about, it’s Superman. That’s Henry Cavill. At the end of the day, the studio wasn’t bringing Henry back, inexplicably and inexcusably but we weren’t going to take no for an answer, This has been years in the making, bringing Henry Cavill back with strategic conversations and we were not going to take no for an answer. For us, there’s no viable logical way to build out the DC Universe without the most powerful force and the greatest superhero of all time sitting on the sidelines, it’s impossible to do. You can Venn diagram this thing 90 times but it all comes back to, ‘Where’s Superman?’ You have to have Superman in the mix, so that’s why we fought hard to bring Superman back.”
Why DCU Values Henry Cavill’s Superman
With 2013’s Man of Steel, Cavill’s Superman served as the DCU’s starting point, but following 2017’s Justice League, the series has continued without him. Although Cavill’s status in the DC Universe was unclear for a while, the franchise continued to use Superman in Shazam! and Peacemaker by having body duplicates stand in for him instead of revealing his face. Superman has been severely underappreciated for years, even to the point of not having the lead in a solo movie since 2013, even though the DC Universe has expanded over the years with the introduction of new characters.
Superman has always been the center of attention in any representation of the DC Universe, whether it be in comic books or other forms of media. DC’s past and present aspects would not have existed without Superman, including the DCU as a film series. Superman has recently played a more active part on television thanks to Tyler Hoechlin’s portrayal of him in The CW’s Arrowverse series, where he plays one of the main characters in Superman & Lois. Superman is now more crucial to the films than ever because James Gunn and Peter Safran have a 10-year plan for the DC Universe, especially if there will be another Justice League movie in the future.
Man of Steel 2 is now in the early stages of development, despite Warner Bros. Discovery and DC Studios having yet to confirm it, and Cavill’s contract situation is still up in the air. Superman is obviously a significant priority for Gunn and Safran’s road map, so it’s only a matter of time before additional information concerning Cavill’s future is disclosed. Gunn and Safran have not yet announced their exact intentions for the DCU. As 2022 draws to a close, hopefully, 2023 won’t be a long wait to find out more about what Superman and Cavill’s role in the DC Universe holds.