For a long while, Superman has been absent in the DC Extended Universe. While Henry Cavill still had a contract for one more appearance, Dwayne Johnson had to fight executives and go directly to the upper management of Warner Bros. to bring the Man of Steel star back for Black Adam. Prior to this, Superman’s appearances in the DCEU were with body doubles that didn’t show their head or were in silhouette. But now that Cavill’s return is official, what can DCEU fans expect for the future? Check out the details below.
On his official Instagram account which currently has 22 million followers, Henry Cavill added a video post which includes a new picture of himself as Superman. The image has Cavill in his updated look shown in the mid-credits of Black Adam, with the brighter costume and the traditional S-curl hair. Besides the previously unrevealed shot of himself in the Superman suit, Cavill spoke about why he did not talk about his cameo nor joined the marketing and promotions for Black Adam prior to the film’s theatrical release: The star continued by promising that there will be more of his Superman in the future of the DCEU: But now that plenty of you have. I wanted to make it official: THAT I AM BACK AS SUPERMAN. Cavill ended the video by expressing his gratitude towards the fans who never stopped believing and supporting his return as the Man of Steel: This echoes what Dwayne Johnson stated as their philosophy behind producing Black Adam. The man called The Rock spoke consistently about giving what the fans want. That listening to the fans has been the guide that the production of Black Adam has followed throughout its journey. Putting the fans as the priority seems to have paid off big time for Black Adam. While the film has been attacked by critics with unflatteringly low scores, the audience score is overwhelmingly positive. On Rotten Tomatoes, the DCEU movie is now 39% on the critics’ Tomatometer with 221 reviews, but the audience score is maintaining a 90% with 2500+ verified ratings. More than that, the film has been a box office hit, with a domestic haul of $67 million and a worldwide total of $140 million over the weekend according to Box Office Mojo. Dwayne Johnson took to social media to personally thank the fans for giving him his biggest opening weekend in a starring role. The Black Adam star and producer also pointed out the 15-year struggle to make it happen and their goal of pleasing the fandom.
— Dwayne Johnson (@TheRock) October 23, 2022 With the current buzz in Hollywood ringing about a Black Adam sequel and a Man of Steel sequel, will these move immediately toward a showdown between the two? Now that Henry Cavill is confirmed to be solidly back for more than just cameos, this would seem to be the likely follow-up. However, this is not the case according to Johnson and his partners at Seven Bucks Entertainment. In an interview with CinemaBlend, the clash between the two DC powerhouses is in the plans, but not the immediate plans: So it seems while Henry is indeed officially back, the tease at the end of a Black Adam vs. Superman fight might take a while before paying off. Which makes sense, as Black Adam will probably be busy cleaning up his home country of Kahndaq from the ramnants of Intergang. Meanwhile, next year will have at least four DC Comics films: Shazam! Fury of the Gods, The Flash, Blue Beetle, and Aquaman and the Lost Kingdom. Which begs the question: will Henry Cavill be making appearances in any or all of these upcoming DC Extended Universe films? We will have to wait and see. Distributed by Warner Bros. Pictures and produced by New Line Cinema, DC Films, Seven Bucks Productions, and FlynnPictureCo, Black Adam is currently showing in theaters worldwide.
