Henry Cavill Officially Shares He’s the Once and Future Superman
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Following his mid-credits scene at the end of Black Adam, actor Henry Cavill confirmed he will be Superman going forward.
Cavill shared a video on Instagram Monday saying:
“I wanted to wait until the weekend was over before posting this, because I wanted to give you all a chance to watch Black Adam. But now that plenty of you have, I want to make it official: I am back as Superman. Most of all. Thank you for your support and for your patience.”
He added that what audiences saw in Black Adam is a “very small taste” of things to come.
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The Instagram video had been in the works for weeks, with the timing eyed for after Black Adam’s opening weekend, when a good chunk of the audience would see his return. The timing also protected the movie’s theatrical experience.
The journey to get Cavill back in the cape was fraught. Black Adam star Dwayne Johnson and his team initially were denied the cameo idea by then-DC film boss Walter Hamada, who had his own plans for Superman. But Johnson, whose manager Dany Garcia also reps Cavill, went around Hamada’s back to De Luca and Abdy, who began their jobs in July and who gave the idea the thumbs up.
Still, it was unclear if a deal to get Cavill in the movie could even be worked out. The Black Adam team initially filmed Superman with a body double and test-screened the scene without showing the character’s face. Then last month, after the deal was closed, Cavill filmed his end of things in London.
Cavill wants fans to have fun with the image and video, with Instagram creators and fans encouraged to remix the video, audio and photo assets on their IG Reels. Cavill’s favorites will be posted on his Destinations channel in the coming days.
Cavill has had a long journey with Superman. Zack Snyder cast him in the role in 2010 during a process that saw him don late actor Christopher Reeve’s costume. Cavill first played Superman in Snyder’s Man of Steel and reprised the role for Batman v Superman: Dawn of Justice (2016) and Justice League (2017). In 2018, The Hollywood Reporter broke the news that his future as the character was in doubt amid a creative overhaul at DC.
However, over the years Cavill has spoken of being tentatively open to a return. He told THR in 2021: “As I always say, ‘The cape is still in the closet.’”
Black Adam opened to $67 million and $140 million worldwide despite as IndieWire said, “Its middling B+ Cinemascore, this DC entry hasn’t seen much social media backlash. Rotten Tomatoes audience scores are not scientific, but the film stands at over 90 percent approval — the best for a DC title in years. The Saturday gross also reflects that positive response; it dropped only 11 percent from the initial two-day gross (and was better than Friday alone). On balance, that’s better than Aquaman; it opened to $68 million in 2018, but dropped 23 percent by day two.”
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In the mid-credit scene after Black Adam says there’s no one that can stop him, someone appears.
“It’s been a while since anyone’s made the world this nervous,” the figure says before stepping forward into the light and revealing that they’re Cavill’s Superman. As he emerges from the shadows, he’s accompanied by some notes from the original John Williams’ Superman theme from 1978. “Black Adam,” he calmly says, “we should talk.”
The newest antihero in the DC Extended Universe softly smiles as the scene cuts to black.
Black Adam is in theaters everywhere now.
Listen to the story of Cavill’s scene below.
