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So it’s been ages since we’ve seen Henry Cavill play Superman, but it hasn’t been so long that we’re looking back at old-timey photos of his portrayal, has it? Has it?!? Time is a weird thing, and the many pauses and delays that defined 2020 don't help keep our heads on straight. But right now, Zack Snyder is gearing up to release his Justice League like it’s 2017, except in actual 2017, it was Joss Whedon’s Justice League and well... we all know how that went.
It’s an exciting time to be a DCEU fan, because for years, we’ve been hearing about Zack Snyder’s expanded vision for the film, thinking we’d never get a chance to see it. Now, it's become a reality and, ahead of the release, Snyder is going back to the man who started it all -- his Superman and our Man of Steel, Henry Cavill. Check out this black and white photo of the actor in a classic suit:
It looks like that’s Zack Synder taking a picture of Henry Cavill maybe during an early test for the character. This Superman suit surely wasn’t going to be used for the actual film but may have been a cheaper way for the filmmaker to visualize the actor in the role before costume designers got involved. Cavill looks visibly younger and doesn’t quite fill out the suit like he would these days. Case in point:
Whoa. What a transformation Cavill has undergone through the years. The 37-year-old actor was cast as Kal-El in 2011, ahead of his role in Man of Steel, on January 30 to be exact, which means he’ll be celebrating a decade since his casting in a few weeks. We haven’t seen his version of the character as much as we’d hoped, thanks to some stumbles from Warner Bros and the filmmakers in terms of Batman v. Superman and Justice League, but the actor still seems to be committed to the character. Back in June, he said this:
I’ve always been a fan of Superman. With a character like that, you carry the mantle with you off set. And it becomes part of your public representation. When you meet children, children don’t necessarily see me as Henry Cavill, but they might see Superman, and there’s a responsibility which comes with that. Because it’s such a wonderful character, it’s actually a responsibility I’m happy to have, and I hope that I get to play more of Superman in years to come.
It’d be easy for Henry Cavill to write off the character if he wasn’t passionate about the Kryptonian, especially as he’s moved on to other big roles like playing The Witcher and Sherlock Holmes in Enola Holmes, but the actor sounds like he’s game to continue to explore the hero further in future films. For the moment, it’s unclear what the plans are for Superman or if there are any but, if Snyder’s Justice League does well on HBO Max (and possibly theaters), the ending is rumored to leave things open to continue what Snyder started with Superman and the other members of the League.
You can sign up for HBO Max ahead of the premiere of Zack Snyder's Justice League and check out the full DCEU lineup here on CinemaBlend.
