UK Edition
The Bond who never was: why does Hollywood keep disrespecting Henry Cavill?
He was perfect as The Witcher, even better as Superman and is one of Bond's great ‘what ifs’. When will Hollywood unlock his true powers?
The manbun is on the run. After four years of binge-watch derring-do, Henry Cavill has twirled his topknot for the final time as The Witcher’s Geralt of Rivia. But for one of the biggest stars in fantasy entertainment, this was not an exit to rule them all. Cavill’s last hurrah as Geralt proved surprisingly understated when Netflix released the concluding three episodes of the third season of The Witcher in late July. Having spent most of his screen time in bed recuperating from injuries, Geralt scraps with some soldiers from the all-conquering kingdom of Nilfgaard. He then vanishes into the horizon in pursuit of his ward, Ciri. And that’s that. The Witcher has left the picture.
Cavill’s departure is a minor crisis for Netflix. Cavill was more than the star of the adaptation of the Andrzej Sapkowski fantasy novels. He was the heart and soul of The Witcher – a real-life fan of the books (and the spin-off video games) whose passion was detectible on screen. And though Liam Hemsworth is taking over as Geralt, Netflix had gone out of its way to stress Cavill was on board for series three. Hence those toe-curling billboards declaring Cavill “is still Geralt”. It’s almost as if they know that, without Cavill, the franchise is as useful as a marzipan broadsword.
So what will Cavill do next? Return as Superman in the DC Universe? Alas, no. DC Studios supremo James Gunn has made it clear that his Superman plans do not include Cavill, insisting the actor had not been offered a new stint as Superman and that his Black Adam cameo was just a cameo. But it’s hard to square Gunn’s insistence about turning over a new leaf for DC with rumours Cavill’s Justice League co-star, Wonder Woman actress Gal Gadot, will have a place in Gunn’s new order.
Gadot was great in Patty Jenkins’s original 2017 Wonder Woman (although the film was a mess). It’s been downhill from there. First with the deafeningly naff Wonder Woman 1984 and then with her lifeless cameo in The Flash – where she managed to be the worst thing in a terrible movie.
Yet, this week, Gadot expressed confidence about making Wonder Woman 3 with Gunn. So she soars while poor Cavill sinks like a stone. The depressing lesson is that not even the man of steel is immune to the slings and arrows of others’ bad decisions. As one incensed fan wrote on social media: “Imagine recasting Henry Cavill’s Superman but keeping Gal Gadot as Wonder Woman.”
Gunn’s decision seems both unfair and illogical. Cavill is a game actor with a genuine love for pulpy nerd properties and a big fanbase (26 million Instagram followers – twice that of Witcher successor Liam Hemsworth). Why not simply put him in the projects he loves?
Whatever Netflix’s struggles, Cavill’s life after Geralt – the rumour is he quit because of the show’s lack of fealty to the source material – is going to be a headache. Last year, around the time he announced he was leaving The Witcher, he looked odds-on to return to as Kal-El – Superman to friends – when he donned the famous red cape for an after-credit cameo in The Rock’s otherwise terrible Black Adam movie. In a world beset by war, wildfire and viral TikTok videos, this was seen as a rare good news story. The best Superman since Christopher Reeve would soar again.
But then Warner Brothers pressed reset on its superhero universe, appointing Guardians of the Galaxy director Gunn as head of DC. He proceeded to unveil 29-year-old David Corenswet as the new Superman (opposite the Marvellous Mrs. Maisel’s Rachel Brosnahan as Lois Lane). With that, Cavill’s red cape joined Geralt’s hair extensions in the recycling bin. So where does he go from here?
Just like Superman, Cavill has an origin story. As a rugby-mad 16-year-old attending Stowe School in Buckinghamshire, the Jersey-born future movie star met Russell Crowe, who was filming Proof Of Life in the vicinity. He button-holed Crowe for acting tips, and the advice must have paid off because two years later, he had a small part opposite Guy Pearce and Richard Harris in The Count Of Monte Cristo. That led to a break-out in the period romp The Tudors, where he played Henry VIII’s brother-in-law, Charles Brandon.
His career was, from there, a series of near-misses. Fans wanted him to be cast as Cedric Diggory in Harry Potter – a gig that went to Robert Pattinson instead. Stephanie Meyer was keen on Cavill for moody vampire Edward Cullen in the adaptation of her Twilight books, but once again, Pattinson bagged the part. He also made it to the final two for James Bond but, not yet 25, lost out to the craggier Daniel Craig. Then, finally, in 2011, he landed a big role as Superman in Zack Snyder’s Man of Steel (having been set to play the character in an aborted 2004 film).
With his love of fantasy novels and video games, Cavill is an anomaly in that he is essentially a geek trapped inside the frame of a matinee star. It’s as if Tom Cruise and Simon Pegg did a body swap on Mission: Impossible. In such a scenario, Cruise would end up the nerdy one. He might even share his enthusiasm for painting Warhammer miniatures which is how Cavill spent a fair chunk of lockdown, judging by videos of his handwork he posted to Instagram.
Cavill, to his credit, has not fought this contradiction. He has, if anything, let his inner geek out to play. He continues to do so with his next major project – an adaptation of the Warhammer 40K science fiction war game for Amazon.
Warhammer is a vast universe, and it’s still unclear how Cavill will go about bringing it to screen. Given that the 40K game is essentially a mash-up of Frank Herbert’s Dune and an early Iron Maiden album, there is lots to get stuck into. Assuming, of course, Amazon doesn’t suffer cold feet following the critical mauling inflicted upon its (admittedly dire) Lord of the Rings prequel, The Rings Of Power. That series did more harm to Middle-earth than Sauron and all his minions. With the Hollywood strikes plunging the industry into uncertainty, Amazon could be forgiven for second thoughts about another fantastical franchise.
Coming off The Witcher, Cavill is also taking care not to get trapped in the geek ghetto. His next film is Argylle, an old-fashioned Bond-style caper from Kingsman director Matthew Vaughn. Cavill stars opposite Dua Lipa – she’ll be glad she’s getting more screen time than in the Barbie movie – as a secret agent duped into thinking he’s a thriller writer.
After that, he’s teaming up once again with Guy Ritchie, with whom he collaborated on the underrated Man From Uncle, for the Ministry of Ungentlemanly Warfare, about a secret Allied black-ops unit during World War II.
Those are perfect Cavill roles in that they are centred on his grumpy charm – a disarming gruffness that, in another time and place, would see him inherit the Bond mantle from Daniel Craig – his original rival for the part. We’ve had a giddy Bond in Roger Moore and a glum one in Craig. Time, surely, for a geeky one? Or not: at 40, Cavill is considered too ancient by far for the part of dapper superspy (Craig, by contrast, was a youthful 38 in his first Bond outing, Casino Royale).
Where does he go from here? Superman fans are in a flap over the idea of Gal Gadot remaining part of the DCU as Cavill is told to jog on. Perhaps Warhammer will be the franchise he’s always dreamed of. He has a producer role, so he will have a say on what ends up on screen. After being mucked about by the industry for 20 years, maybe the only person Cavill can trust in Hollywood is himself.