Contrary to popular belief, the man is not meant to be the face of every blockbuster franchise.
You sit down at your computer (or open your phone). You go to Google. Then you see the sentence: “Henry Cavill joins the Marvel Cinematic Universe!” Or “Henry Cavill is top runner for Bond!” Or even something outlandish such as “You Won’t Believe What Franchise Henry Cavill’s Joined!” Not only are these articles patently false, but they’re playing on fans’ desires to see Henry Cavill as a constant presence in genre fare. More often than not, these types of articles are poorly sourced and lead to disappointment. But the question remains: why are they so popular?
Henry Cavill’s Biggest Genre Roles Were Cut Short
Most of these articles have sprung out of the fact that Cavill’s two biggest roles to date – Superman and Geralt of Rivia in The Witcher – have more or less been cut short. Cavill was revealed to be departing The Witcher after its third season, with Liam Hemsworth picking up Geralt’s sword for future installments of the Netflix fantasy series. It looked as though Cavil, would make a triumphant return as Superman after Black Adam‘s mid-credits sequence, though that was nipped in the bud with James Gunn‘s decision to take the Man of Steel in a different direction with Superman: Legacy.
This is not the first time a potential film franchise with Cavill at the helm has been cut short. Back in 2015 he starred in a Guy Ritchie-helmed adaption of The Man From U.N.C.L.E. as the suave spy Napoleon Solo. Though it was a box office bomb and received a mixed reception, The Man From U.N.C.L.E. has gathered a cult following over the years. Special attention has been paid to Cavill’s performance as Solo, with hopes for a sequel – though said hopes may have been tanked by the controversy surrounding his co-star Armie Hammer.
Articles That Fancast Henry Cavill Play on Fans’ Hopes & Frustrations
This brings us to the articles that are tying Henry Cavill to nearly every current film franchise in history. The real issue with articles like these lies in how these articles play with fans and their feelings concerning Henry Cavill’s career.
Many of Cavill’s fans feel that he hasn’t gotten a break in Hollywood. They often defend his portrayal of Superman and side with the reports that Cavill departed The Witcher due to “creative differences” between himself and the showrunners. So it is only natural that they’d want to see him in another major role. The constant MCU rumors tie to the desire to see Cavill as another superhero – particularly Captain Britain and Hyperion, who share similar powersets to Superman (and the former also sharing Cavill’s nationality). The James Bond rumors are 𝐛𝐨𝐫𝐧 out of a desire to see Cavill as a spy. He proved he had the chops in Man From U.N.C.L.E., so why not step into the tuxedo of the biggest spy of all? But if fans looked at other news sources, they’d learn that Henry Cavill isn’t really as hard up for work as he seems.
Henry Cavill Is Staying Booked & Busy
Henry Cavill actually has multiple projects in the works. On the film side, he has The Ministry of Ungentlemanly Warfare and Apple TV+’s Argylle. The former reunites Cavill with Ritchie — and ironically has somewhat of a tie to Bond, as the story is based on the real-life exploits of the first ever black-ops military group co-founded by Bond author Ian Fleming. The latter features Cavill as the titular spy who suffers a bout of amnesia…and believes he’s an author. It is also directed by another filmmaker who’s an expert in the espionage genre: Matthew Vaughn.
And as if that wasn’t enough, Henry Cavill is also tapped to produce and star in an adapation of Warhammer 40,000 for Amazon Studios. The tabletop game has become immensely popular over the years, and Cavill being attached to an adapation will more than likely draw in new fans. At the end of the day, Henry Cavill is not only enjoying a career but proving that he can potentially move past the two roles that have defined said career. And his fans would be wise to do the same.
