With five years since Henry Cavill’s last appearance as Superman in Justice League, the hero’s future in the DC Universe has been a giant question mark rather than a symbol of hope. But, that all thankfully changed during Black Adam’s end credit scene, when Cavill returned to the big screen to the classic Superman theme fanfare. It seems we should be thanking Dwayne “The Rock” Johnson for more Man of Steel, who has just spoken more in-depth about his fight to bring the character back.
As The Rock thanked DC fans for Black Adam’s continued success, as it now has soared to No. 1 on home release while Black Panther: Wakanda Forever dominates in theaters, he also spoke to why bringing Henry Cavill’s Superman back into the fold was so important to him. In his words:
If we’re going to 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. And you guys know who I’m talking about, of course. That is Superman, and that is Henry Cavill. At the end of the day, the studio was not bringing Henry Cavill back. Inexplicably and inexcusably. But we weren’t going to take no for an answer. Myself, my Seven Bucks co-founder and chairwoman Dany Garcia, Hiram Garcia our Seven Bucks president. This has been years in the making regarding bringing Henry Cavill back, and years of strategic conversations. And we were not going to take no for an answer.
In a video Dwayne Johnson posted on Twitter while he drove into work, he shared some behind-the-scenes info regarding what went into Henry Cavill’s official return to DC movies. He continued:
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. 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 in the mix. So that’s why we fought hard to bring Superman back [with] Henry Cavill. And it was no other Superman, by the way, to bring back. Henry Cavill is our generation’s Superman. And in my opinion, the greatest Superman. And I mean that respectfully to the other actors, especially Christopher Reeve.
There you have it. The Rock knew Henry Cavill was the ultimate Superman, and he did everything in his power to get the booked and busy actor to suit back up. Cavill’s Kal-El doesn’t show up until after the Black Adam credits roll. He appears from a wall of smoke where he tells The Rock’s DC character they “should talk.” Following the reveal in theaters, Cavill took to social media to say the moment was just a “small taste of what’s to come.”
Now, no definite plans regarding the larger return of Superman have been announced. Rumor has it that producer Chuck Roven is “currently soliciting pitches” from writers for a Superman sequel. As of late, Warner Bros. has gone through a lot of shakeups behind the scenes, with Discovery Communications making a $43 billion deal with its parent company, AT&T, to buy it.
Following Black Adam’s release, Guardians of the Galaxy and The Suicide Squad filmmaker James Gunn was named the new co-chair and co-CEO of the newly carved-out DC Studios alongside producer Peter Safran. With the two filmmakers now taking the helm, perhaps the DCEU will finally find the direction that has been scattered for years now.
Along with Henry Cavill’s return to the DC Universe, the actor will return for The Witcher and star in the spy film, Argyle next year, whereas The Rock’s next movie is a holiday movie with Chris Evans, coming out in 2023 as well.
