Henry Cavill always carried himself in a fantastic way. He’s optimistic, he’s got humor and he’s shown much love and gratitude to the fans. He opened up several times about what Superman means to him. Whenever he steps into the suit, it made him want to be a better version of himself. I’m not sure if this is true, so bear with me. I heard in an interview from Jason Mamoa that he actually named his dog Kal! As in, Kal-El the last son of Krypton!
If you listen to Henry in interviews, there’s something about him that’s very genuine. He knows the source material. He knows what Superman means to people.
When James Gunn announced a new Superman movie without Henry Cavill, it made me sad that he will not be a part of it.
Make no mistake. Henry Cavill’s departure makes me sad, but I know that it’s necessary. Let me explain why.
A Sad but Necessary Departure
For those of you who don’t know, James Gunn is writing the new Superman movie. If you’ve been following James Gunn on social media, it’s more than safe to say that he’s taking inspiration from Grant Morrison’s All-Star: Superman run. After all, he has made several All-Star: Superman tweets these past weeks.
Grant Morrison’s take on Superman is in some ways similar but vastly different from Henry Cavill’s Superman.
All-Star: Superman
Here’s a quick run-down for those of you who have not read All-Star: Superman. SPOILERS FOR THOSE WHO HAVE NOT READ ALL-STAR: SUPERMAN! The graphic novel opens with Superman saving astronauts whose ship is flying towards the sun. Superman gets his powers from yellow sunlight. His Kryptonian cells absorb the sunlight and (more or less) processes it in a way that gives him his powers.
In a sequence that draws parallels to the story of Icarus, Superman flies too close to sun. As a consequence, his Kryptonian cells get supercharged. Superman’s power levels are at a new high. He’s more god-like than ever. The only thing that sucks about this is that he’s only got a few weeks left to live. Yeah, that’s right. This Superman is at the end of his rope.
This isn’t however a traditional end of the rope story. It should feel like a tragic story but its not. Sure, there are brief moments where we see Clark feel the weight of having the last days of his life ahead of him. But for the most part, we see a Superman show his gratitude and give back to the world.
Superman chooses to show gratitude and help those in need despite only having a couple of days, weeks at most, to live. Be honest with yourself, what would you do if you knew you only had a couple of days left to live? I think it’s safe to say that most of us would treat ourselves to something nice and spend as much time as possible with our loved ones.
Don’t get me wrong, Superman chose to spend time with his loved ones. In a fun chapter, he uses new technology to show Lois Lane what it’s like to have his Kryptonian powers for a day.
It’s how he chose to spend his time with his loved ones that makes him different from the average person. Instead of giving into despair, hopelessness and getting angry at the world, he shows gratitude. This Superman shows how grateful he is to have loved a great woman. He reflects on how amazing his friends Jimmy Olsen, Peery White and Batman were to him. He thinks about how lucky he was to have been raised by his loving and supportive parents, Martha and John Kent. To put it simply, he feels as though he’s led a great life.
Not only does he show gratitude, he shows compassion, love and selflessness in his final days. He takes down the regular alien and monstrous threats to Metropolis. He helps terminally ill children by getting his Kryptionian friends (who were shrunken by Brainiac when he stole Kandor, the capital city of Krypton) to treat them in ways that modern technology can’t. He even takes the time to convince a young lady to stop herself from taking her own life. Before she steps off the building, Superman gives her a supportive hug and tells her something that always gives me the feels: “It’s never as bad it seems. You’re much stronger than you think you are.”
I love All-Star: Superman because it’s so refreshing to see a character being driven by gratitude, love and compassion for once instead of tragedy and vengeance. In a world were there’s so many dark and edgy characters, Superman always stives for optimism.
Optimism, by the way, is a very very hard thing to strive for. The common criticism for Superman is that he’s a boy-scout. He’s too nice. Too good natured. I’d argue that the optimism portrayed by Grant Morrison’s take on Superman hits differently. Optimism is very hard because everyone is aware of the disappointments and hardships that life can bring. True optimists, like Superman, are aware that these disappointments and hardships are ahead of us, yet they still move forward and find ways to rise above the difficult circumstances. That type of optimism is admirable!
In All-Star: Superman, Clark gets stranded on Bizarro world. All seems hopeless for Clark. He’s stranded on a planet stripped of his powers with Bizarro clones that are less-than-helpful. Yet somehow, someway, Clark holds onto his optimism. He tries again and again to escape the planet despite the problems that he faces. Eventually, the impossible circumstances turn into a possible escape. When Superman summons the will, his dreams become inevitable as he escapes to reunite with his loved ones!
Superman is more god-like than ever not because his strength has increased ten-fold. He’s more god-like than ever because he chooses to love and inspire us. Period.
Henry Cavill’s Superman
Henry Cavill’s Superman is awesome in an entirely differently way than Grant Morrison’s All-Star: Superman. He’s similar in the sense that Man of Steel did not shy away from the fact that Clark came from a loving and supportive family. After discovering that Clark arrived to this earth on a spaceship, Clark says to his Dad, “Can’t we just keep pretending that I’m your son?” I always get hit with the feels when his Dad hugs him and replies, “You are my son.”
Zack Synder’s take on Superman was different from his comic book counter-part. This Clark spent a lot of his life hiding his abilities from the public. With that much hiding and shame for fear of rejection, this Superman gave into a lot of doubt and uncertainty. Clark spent a lot of his time worrying and not a lot of time smiling. Despite this, what always hits me hard in the feels is when Superman receives the love from his family. After spending a long-time trying to figure out his identity and what sort of impact he should have on the world, through one odd job after another, he goes back home to visit his Mom. When he sees his Mom for the first time in months (or years), all his doubt and worries go away for a brief moment when he receives the much-needed love from his Mother. As corny as it sounds, Zack Synder’s made it feel as though family is the real superpower in Man of Steel.
Zack Synder also chose to go something different with Henry Cavill’s Superman. He puts his Superman in a position where he had no choice but to compromise his moral integrity. Towards the end of the movie, Henry Cavill’s Superman is faced with an impossible choice. Either kill General Zod and stop him from killing an innocent family or let Zod kill the innocent family. As we all know, Henry Cavill’s Superman chose to break General Zod’s neck which killed him.
At first, I had mixed feelings about this. But as time went on, I ended up loving this take on Superman! As you get older, you start to understand that the world we live in is messy and complex. It’s gets harder and harder to figure out what the right thing to do is. We learn in some way shape or form that it’s impossible to be perfect. And, if we’re honest with ourselves, we understand that we’re bound to make mistakes. I don’t care what your opinion is, none of us can live up to a perfect archetype. We all fall short of showing the highest form of moral integrity because life will throw us curveballs like Henry Cavill’s Superman. The universe will throw us into a space where it’s impossible to make the right decision.
In an odd way, Zack Synder’s choice to put his Superman in a position where he had no choice but to compromise his moral integrity, humanizes him in ways that most Superman writers never will. In other words, like Henry Cavill’s Superman, we are not God, we can only strive to do what’s best with what life throws at us.
Why Henry Cavill’s Departure is Necessary
If you’re going to make a Superman movie that’s heavily inspired by All-Star: Superman, you can’t use Henry Cavill’s Superman. To put it plainly, Henry Cavill’s Superman is too flawed, messy and complex to live up to an All-Star: Superman depiction of the titular character.
It’s more than safe to say that Henry Cavill would’ve loved to take another shot at the character. Although there’s a part of me that wanted to see him come back as Superman, I know that he can’t. His Superman just made too many mistakes. He gave into doubt, he caused a lot of collateral damage in Metropolis when he fought General Zod and eventually killed him. I would’ve loved to see Henry Cavill’s Superman navigate through the messy and complex world that often presented him with no right way to tackle a problem. Sadly, that’s not the direction that James Gunn wants for his DCU Superman.
Henry Cavill’s Superman had a long way to before becoming the God-like and loving All-Star: Superman depiction of the character.
I wish Henry’s Superman will come back, but I know that James Gunn’s new direction for the character is for the best. I don’t think all hope is though! Who knows, with The Flash breaking the multiverse open, it’s more than possible that Henry’s Superman can come back for a Crisis on Infinite Earths type of event! All we can do is what Henry Cavill and Superman has done.
Stay optimistic folks!