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Dwayne Johnson Says Warner Bros. Didn’t Want Henry Cavill To Return As Superman

November 28, 2022 | Posted by Jeremy Thomas
Man of Steel Henry Cavill Superman Image Credit: Warner Bros. Pictures

Henry Cavill is back in the DCEU as Superman, but Dwayne “The Rock” Johnson says Warner Bros. was opposed to that idea initially. As reported last month, Cavill is officially set to return as the Man of Steel and will appear in future projects. Cavill made his return in the post-credits scene for Black Adam and in a video, Johnson said that he pushed hard for Cavill to return but that the studio was cold on the idea.

Johnson said he wanted to establish Black Adam as “as the most powerful, unstoppable force in the DC universe” and to do that, “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’s Henry Cavill.”

Johnson noted that the studio “inexplicably and inexcusably” didn’t want Cavill back in the role, noting, “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. There was no way, there’s no viable logical way that you can attempt to build out the DC Universe without the most powerful force and the greatest superhero of all time sitting on the sidelines. It’s impossible to do.”

He continued, “It all comes back to where Superman you have to have Superman in the mix. So that’s why we fought hard to bring Superman back, Henry Cavill, and there was no other Superman, by the way, to bring back Henry Cavill is our generation Superman and in my opinion, the greatest Superman. And I mean that respectfully to the other actors, especially Christopher Reeve, but the greatest Superman of all time.”

Black Adam has grossed $162.8 million domestically and $377.7 million worldwide against a $200 million budget. Johnson and Cavill’s next appearances as Black Adam and Superman have not yet been announced.