Henry Cavill Chose Superman Suit From This Movie for His Return Cameo
Henry Cavill is officially back as Superman. Audiences have already seen Cavill’s return to the role, and Warner Bros. has confirmed he’ll be included in future DC Comics films. For his return, Cavill chose a specific Superman suit from his three previous movies.
[Warning: This article contains spoilers for Cavill’s cameo as Superman.]
Cavill was a guest on the Happy Sad Confused podcast on Oct. 27. Discussing the cameo that will launch the next phase of Superman films, Cavill explained why he chose a very specific Superman suit.
Henry Cavill is wearing his ‘Man of Steel’ Superman suit in ‘Black Adam’
The midcredits scene in Black Adam features Amanda Waller (Viola Davis) warning Black Adam (Dwayne Johnson) that she does know people not from Earth who could challenge him. Superman arrives and says, “We should talk.” If the specific Superman suit he’s wearing looks familiar, that’s because he chose his very first suit from 2013’s Man of Steel.
“I wasn’t too sure how I was going to feel, whether it was going to be okay cool, yeah, back in the suit or whether it was going to be something that was very emotionally connective,” Cavill said on Happy Sad Confused. “I put the Man of Steel suit back on. And I chose that one in particular because of the nostalgia attached to the suit. It was incredibly important for me to be standing there and enjoying that moment. That is one of the top moments in my career. It feels great to have the opportunity to wear it again.”
Henry Cavill ‘never gave up hope’ on Superman
Cavill last played Superman in Justice League, for which he did his last reshoots in 2017. Despite the Snyder version of the film coming out in 2021, Cavill hadn’t played the role for five years.
“The character means so much to me and it’s been five years now,” Cavill said. “I’ve, quite rightly, otherwise I shouldn’t deserve to wear the cape, but I never gave up hope. 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.”
Cavill never gave up hope but he was a realist, too. There were a lot of moving parts out of his control, so he had some defense mechanisms just in case he didn’t fly again.
I think there’s 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. With this, it meant so much to me and I thought I’m going to let it sit and then simmer in the background. I’m going to put the cape in the closet and let it stay there and when the time comes it’s ready. But I never lost hope. That was the key bit for me because it felt when I’d go out to the supermarket or something and someone’s like, ‘Hey, Superman.’ It never felt dishonest. I never felt like I was living a lie. I never gave up hope and it was always there.
Henry Cavill, Happy Sad Confused podcast, 10/27/22
Coordinating ‘Black Adam’ with ‘The Witcher’
It’s not like Cavill was hurting for work. He was filming the third season of his Netflix series, The Witcher, when Black Adam called him. Fortunately, Netflix worked it out.
I was on Witcher and I got the call saying, ‘Hey, this is happening. When can you do it?’ I was like, ‘I’m working 6 day weeks. I don’t know when I can do it.’ They said, ‘We’ve got these dates.’ We had to get clearance from Witcher production at the time but it was so top secret we couldn’t tell them what. We just said, ‘Hey, there’s this thing I’m going to do. Can you clear me for it?’ I don’t know whether anyone suspected or not because there was all the talk about Comic-Con at the time as well. Then I went to Leavesden Studios, Warner Bros.’ studio in the U.K. on a super secret set, all whispers and all capes, all hidden and got back in the suit. It was a very powerful moment for me.
Henry Cavill, Happy Sad Confused, 10/27/22
