The Big Picture

Henry Cavill’s surprise Wolverine cameo in Deadpool & Wolverine was a highlight of the movie.
Cavill’s talents were squandered in the role of Superman in the DCEU due to mismatched direction and characterization.
Cavill is a versatile actor who thrives in roles that allow him to showcase his physicality and distinct characteristics.

Did anybody else not see that Henry Cavill cameo coming in Deadpool & Wolverine? For a film loaded with surprising appearances, no appearance was as jarring as Cavill’s, who entered his one scene boulder-shoulder first, glistening with pure honey badger energy as a variant of Wolverine (Hugh Jackman). It may have lasted all of a minute long and served as just an Easter egg, but it felt like not just an exceptionally clever reference to real life fandom, but a skeleton key to unlocking the type of roles that best work for Cavill. This is in sharp contrast to his time as Superman in the DCEU, where his presence felt largely squandered in films that never knew what to do with him.

Henry Cavill as Superman Seemed Like a No-Brainer

On paper, Cavill as Superman was a slam dunk proposition, given he’s one of the few actors on the planet who could get his body to naturally look anywhere close to Superman’s olympian physique. Plus, if you look at Man of Steel, the only DCEU film that truly dug into and challenged Superman’s psychology, Cavill was adept at carrying Kal-El with a dignity and reserve that hid a broiling turmoil. While the film’s narrative constantly tries to play Superman’s true motivations like a puzzlebox mystery (to its detriment), Cavill’s charisma and conflicted earnestness made him a magnetic presence, somebody you wanted to see succeed and embrace his all-too-telegraphed destiny as the foundation for a new franchise.

Unfortunately, that new franchise got put under the steering of Zack Snyder, who willfully ran away from Cavill’s strengths by making his Superman increasingly beleaguered and stoic to the point of stagnation. Snyder only saw Superman as a morose alien who was burdened by the expectations of needing to help people, and Cavill’s performances felt drained of any playfulness or heartbeat. Having the linchpin of the DCEU be an angry sadsack is probably part of the reason none of the films starring him were anywhere near as successful as they should have been, never hitting that magical $1 billion mark.

Henry Cavill Deserved a More Dynamic Superman

Cavill didn’t need to be a Christopher Reeve clone to be a good Superman, and that’s shown by some of the other highlights of his filmography. Many consider Cavill’s best work to be as Geralt in The Witcher, where he gets to be an uber-masculine hero who’s also witty, exudes unparalleled himbo energy, and clearly flexes his intelligence about monster culture for the benefit of everyone. His role as Napoleon Solo in The Man From U.N.C.L.E. had him be a charming cad who wears a slick suit and constantly advertises how much Cavill could fit as James Bond. His villainous turn in Mission: Impossible – Fallout officially put him in the Hall of Fame of badasses with his reloading arms and schoolyard bully pettiness, perhaps being one of the few actors to fully stand toe-to-toe with Tom Cruise. All were roles that gave him the firm foundation of being a mountain of muscles, and he then got to chisel distinct characteristics into each mountain.

Henry Cavill Does a Lot With Very Little in ‘Deadpool & Wolverine’

Which brings us back to his Wolverine cameo. He barely does anything, and yet he so clearly embodies what Wolverine should be, and he’s brimming with a personality leagues different from Hugh Jackman’s iconic portrayal. He’s so angry, so bulky, chomping down on his cigar like it’s oxygen. He’s a far more comic-accurate rendition of the character than we’ve seen, and that speaks to Henry Cavill’s real power as an actor and ability to make too-good-to-be-true people feel tangible. Cavill is a wonderful representation for the nerdy gym enthusiasts, and films that play into that succeed far better than the ones that limit it. Maybe that’s partially why Deadpool & Wolverine made $1 billion.

Deadpool & Wolverine is in theaters in the U.S.