Credit: Black Adam
The circumstance regarding why Henry Cavill’s Superman disappeared from the DCEU remains strange. Fans clearly loved the actor in the iconic role, and though the building of Zack Snyder’s DCEU didn’t go off as planned, Jason Mamoa’s Aquaman, Gal Gadot’s Wonder Woman, and Ben Affleck’s Batman are still being used in separate projects. Hell, Ezra Miller’s Flash is scheduled to be released next year, and the actor has been a huge problem for the company over the past several years. Yet, Henry Cavill seemed to disappear following the Justice League. There were references here and there about Superman in various films, with even a headless cameo of Superman in Shazam! However, there’s been plenty of rumors regarding why the old regimen of Warner Brothers refused to make a Man of Steel 2.
One of the popular rumors is Henry Cavill’s refusal to appear in Shazam! Reportedly, the actor was scheduled to make a cameo in the film, but Cavill allegedly played hardball, and his appearance was scrapped. As you can see, Shazam! found an interesting approach to have Superman appear. Cavill would finally make his return in Black Adam, though it was mostly in the post-credits scene. Still, it was Cavill’s huge return to the new DC universe and that was made possible by Dwayne Johnson himself. The actor has criticized the old regimen before by refusing to let Cavill return for the film; however, Johnson went deeper in venting his frustrations over the previous Warner Bros regime, saying no to the idea of letting Cavill return:
Credit: Man of Steel
“If we’re gonna establish Black Adam as the most powerful, unstoppable force in the DC universe, we have to bring back the most powerful, unstoppable force of all time in any universe, Johnson said in a video posted to Twitter. “And you guys know who I’m talking about. Of course, that’s Superman, and that’s Henry Cavill. At the end of the day, the studio was not bringing Henry Cavill back, inexplicably and inexcusably,” Johnson said.
The Black Adam star simply refused to take no for an answer. Johnson stated previously that it took six years for them to finally get Warner Bros. approval over letting Cavill appear. Though Black Adam’s box office numbers are far from great, it’s clear that the film was set up for a Superman vs. Black Adam feature. Superman is indeed the strong hero within the DC universe, so it does make sense to have these two powerful beings clash in a fight to end all fights. In Johnson’s eyes, there was simply no way you could build a universe without the man he deems the greatest superhero of all time:
Credit: DC Comics
“For us, there was no viable, logical way that you can attempt to build out the DC universe with the most powerful force and the greatest superhero of all time sitting on the sidelines,” he explained. “It’s impossible to do. You can venn diagram business-wise this whole thing 90 different times, but it all comes back to: where’s Superman? You have to have Superman back in the mix.”
As previously stated, everything regarding the Black Adam franchise is up in the air. The latest DC offering has banked $377 million worldwide, and given the fact that it’s production budget is in the range of $195 – $200 million, that ultimately means Black Adam will lose the studio some money. With James Gunn and Peter Safran’s plans about the overall universe still unknown, we’ll have to patiently wait to see what happens. More than likely, Black Adam 2 will be announced, though a lower budget would be set for the sequel. That’s simply speculation on my end.Shazam!
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