Henry Cavill's Superman has been one of the biggest question marks of the DCEU ever since his last appearance in Zack Snyder's Justice League. Following his last big screen team-up with other DC heroes, Warner Bros. reportedly wanted to replace Cavill as Superman, spelling bad news for the actor.
However, the narrative slowly shifted as soon as Black Adam's marketing began, with lead star Dwayne Johnson being at the center of it.The former WWE Champion has been talking non-stop about Superman during the film's promotional tour, with him even taking a dig at Warner Bros.' handling of the character by saying that the Last Son of Krypton has been "on the sidelines for too long."
During one instance in Black Adam's press tour, Johnson even teased Cavill's comeback as Superman, subtly saying, "Welcome home" when asked a Man Of Steel-related question.
Many questioned whether it was Warner Bros. or Henry Cavill himself halting Superman's DCEU return, but new comments have shed more light on behind-the-scenes discussions...
Henry Cavill Wanted to Return as Superman
Black Adam producer Hiram Garcia sat down with CinemaBlend to talk about the possibility of seeing Dwayne Johnson's anti-hero go head-to-head against Henry Cavill's Superman while also revealing interesting details about the Man of Steel's comeback.
While admitting that he is unsure about the future clash between the two characters, Garcia revealed that Cavill "wanted to come back" as Superman, noting that they wanted to make sure that Black Adam established that the actor's version exists in the same universe as Teth-Adam:
"I’m not sure what’s going on in that regard. He wanted to come back, we wanted him to come back, and we wanted to make sure that we were able to establish that (his) character exists in the same universe as Black Adam."
Previously, there were allegations that Cavill was the party preventing a Superman return, as revealed by Fandango's Erik Davis:
"I've heard a story that they've asked him, and he doesn't want to do it, he doesn't want to come back."
These new comments from the Black Adam producer seem to debunk the rumblings that Cavill was the problem during negotiations.
This comes after Dwayne Johnson's revelation that DC's old leadership "kept saying no" to Cavill's return as Superman, noting that the new regime is what allowed Black Adam to "usher in a new era in the DC Universe" and unveiled a promising future for the Man of Steel:
"This serves not only Black Adam, but it serves the larger DC Universe. But man, more importantly than that, it takes care of the fans, and that’s what you want your lead foot to be. And yes, phone calls and meetings, but man, it was years…this was six years to get that done. I’m gonna say that again - six years, we first started talking about this, and they kept saying no. Now that leadership isn’t there anymore, because we usher in a new era in the DC Universe, and we usher out an old era."
Garcia also teased that they have "large ambitions" for the franchise:
"We have large ambitions for things we’d like to do, however all of these items are still in the works so I am unable to provide exact updates. But just know that we are fighting for it."
Why Henry Cavill's Superman Needs to Stay
The fact that Henry Cavill wanted to return as Superman is a promising development, and this debunks a previous rumor that the actor is "done" with the character.
This isn't the first time that Cavill addressed his potential Superman comeback. Back in November 2021, the Batman v Superman actor revealed that he feels a sense of "unfinished business" by not having made a true sequel to Man of Steel while also pointing out that he is ready for more opportunities to explore the character.
The actor's willingness to continue to portray the DC hero is more than enough reason to be excited about the character's future, especially after the latest report about a Man of Steel sequel being in development. This is on top of Walter Hamada's exit as the president of DC Films.
Now that the pieces are in place, it's safe to assume that Cavill's Superman is here to stay.
Black Adam is set to premiere in theaters on Friday, October 21.
