Justice League Director Zack Snyder Shares First Photo of Henry Cavill as Superman, Taken 15 Years Ago
Director Zack Snyder has shared the first photo he took of Henry Cavill as Superman, snapped 15 years ago.
Snyder is currently documenting his time spearheading the now defunct DC Extended Universe in a series of Instagram posts, the latest of which shows British actor Cavill in Christopher Reeve’s Superman suit. Cavill wore Reeve’s suit during screen tests for his role in 2013’s Man of Steel, which kickstarted Snyder’s DCEU.
“15 years ago, on this day, I pressed the shutter and met Superman,” Snyder wrote in a post accompanying the picture. “The first photo I ever took of Henry Cavill — moments before he stepped into legend. Shot on my Nikon.”
In recent weeks Snyder released two other early photos of Cavill in Reeve’s suit, showing the look that helped secure the actor’s role as Superman. The first, below, was published alongside the comment: “Henry Cavill. The original Superman suit. This photo. It was undeniable.”
The second, below, accompanied the following from Snyder: “With the last image I shared, and this one we showed WB everyone agreed: Henry Cavill was Superman. That’s where the journey began.”
Cavill went on to reprise his role as Superman in 2016’s Batman v Superman: Dawn of Justice, 2017’s Justice League (and the subsequent Snyder Cut), and cameo in 2022’s Black Adam. After James Gunn and Peter Safran assumed control of DC Studios and set out to create a rebooted DCU, Cavill announced on social media that he would indeed return as Superman, but had to walk that back after it emerged Gunn wanted a different actor to play the iconic role.
“I like Henry, I think he’s a great guy,” Gunn said in 2023. “I think he’s getting d**ked around by a lot of people, including the former regime at this company. But this Superman is not Henry, for a number of reasons.”
David Corenswet then came in as Superman and starred in last year’s movie of the same name. Promoting that movie, Gunn recalled a discussion he had with Cavill to tell him that he wouldn’t return as Superman. “It’s terrible,” Gunn said during Josh Horowitz’s Happy Sad Confused. “Believe it or not, the day we were dealing with trying to figure out if we could take the job at DC Studios, […] the day the deal closed, all of a sudden, they were announcing that Henry was back. And I was like, ‘What is going on? We know what the plan is. The plan was to come in and do Superman.’ It was really unfair to him and a total bummer.”
Gunn explained this was due to some within the studio trying to “force” their vision of the DCU, which, he insisted, was “never part of the equation.”
“That was really unfortunate,” Gunn continued. “So Peter and I [thought] the right thing to do was to sit down with [Cavill] and talk to him. And we sat down and we talked to him. He was an absolute gentleman, a great guy about it. He said, ‘The only thing I ask is that I’m able to reveal it myself as opposed to it coming from you guys.’”
Gunn then said he had talked to Cavill about playing another role in the DCU, and didn’t believe it would be too confusing for audiences. “I would love to put Henry in something,” he said.
Wesley is Director, News at IGN. Find him on Twitter at @wyp100. You can reach Wesley at wesley_yinpoole@ign.com or confidentially at wyp100@proton.me.
