Before Superman faces Batman, look back at the most memorable Henry Cavill movies
On March 25, Henry Cavill will reprise his role as Clark Kent/Superman in Batman v Superman: Dawn of Justice, which will be the first major step towards the eventual Justice League film and the larger DC Extended Universe. Given the fact that Batman and Superman have never appeared together in a live-action film before, Batman v Superman should easily be one of the more successful movies of the year.
But while Cavill is a Man of Steel for Warner Bros., he’s more man than “Superman” in his other roles. Although attempts to make Cavill a franchise player in Immortals and The Man From U.N.C.L.E. simply haven’t turned him into a star, his rise in Hollywood is very admirable. Cavill’s earliest roles included small parts in The Count of Monte Cristo and on TV, as well as co-starring gigs in direct-to-video films. From there, Cavill advanced to larger roles in bigger movies and it’s entirely possible that Batman v Superman and Justice League could elevate his status to the next level.
Before Batman v Superman: Dawn of Justice, ComingSoon.net has put together of the 10 most memorable roles that Cavill has had on film and TV. Everything you need to know about Cavill’s career is right here!
Henry Cavill Movies and TV Spotlight: Hellraiser: Hellworld (2005)
Even though the Hellraiser series had long been direct-to-video by the time that Hellraiser: Hellworld came out, it still had a pretty respectable cast including original Pinhead, Doug Bradley, sci-fi and horror icon, Lance Henriksen, and ‘Vikings” star Katheryn Winnick.
Cavill played Mike, one of the group of friends including Chelsea (Winnick), who were menaced by the Host (Henricksen) and the Cenobites. Hellworld was Cavill’s fourth feature film, and it was one of his bigger roles in his early days as an actor. Horror movies are a rite of passage in Hollywood, and at least Cavill got to play out a death scene within the film.
Henry Cavill Movies and TV Spotlight: Tristan & Isolde (2006)
The legend of Tristan and Isolde isn’t widely known anymore, but it has endured for centuries and it was likely an influence on the doomed Arthurian romance of Lancelot and Guinevere. Cavill had only a small supporting role in Tristan & Isolde as Melot, the nephew of Lord Marke (Rufus Sewell) and the jealous best friend of Tristan (James Franco).
Let’s just say that Melot’s jealousy led him to make some very bad decisions in the film, and he wasn’t the only one who paid for his mistakes.
Henry Cavill Movies and TV Spotlight: Stardust (2007)
Cavill’s role in Stardust is so small that it can barely be called a supporting role! He played Humphrey, the boyfriend of Victoria (Sienna Miller), the woman whom the main character, Tristan (Charlie Cox) wanted to impress by retrieving a star given human form, Yvaine (Claire Danes). Sounds simple enough, doesn’t it?
Think of Stardust this way. It’s a Neil Gaiman story in which Daredevil wants to impress the Baroness (who was dating Superman) by bringing back the crazy woman from “Homeland” and eluding former Catwoman Michelle Pfeiffer, who played an evil witch. Oh…and Robert De Niro was also in it as a crossing-dressing pirate named Captain Shakespeare. Is it any wonder that it’s hard to even remember that Cavill was in this movie?
Henry Cavill Movies and TV Spotlight: The Tudors (2007)
Cavill has frequently credited his stint on “The Tudors” for fully introducing him to a wider American audience. He played Charles Brandon, the 1st Duke of Suffolk and one of the few close friends of King Henry VIII (Jonathan Rhys Meyers). And unlike Henry’s wives, Charles Brandon got to keep his head!
After remaining with “The Tudors” for its four season run, Cavill left television behind to pursue feature film roles.
Henry Cavill Movies and TV Spotlight: Blood Creek (2009)
There’s a very good chance that you’ve never heard of Blood Creek, a little seen horror film by Joel Schumacher. Blood Creek only had a limited release, but it was one of the first films to put Cavill in a leading role opposite Dominic Purcell and Michael Fassbender.
Cavill and Purcell played Victor and Evan Marshall, two brothers who were unexpectedly forced to face a supernaturally-powered Nazi occultist, Richard Wirth (Fassbender).
Henry Cavill Movies and TV Spotlight: Whatever Works (2009)
If you put Henry Cavill in a love triangle with Evan Rachel Wood and Larry David, of course Cavill is gonna win that battle! In Woody Allen’s Whatever Works, Cavil’s Randy was enlisted to seduce Melodie (Wood) and end her marriage to Boris (David). And that’s exactly what happened.
This was a rare comedic role for Cavill, and the movie had perhaps the best overall cast of any movie in Cavill’s career.
Henry Cavill Movies and TV Spotlight: Immortals (2011)
When Immortals hit theaters, it was already widely known that Cavill had been cast as Superman in Man of Steel. With that notoriety and Immortals’ heavy use of CGI, it was predicted that Immortals would be Cavill’s first smash hit.
It was not.
But Immortals did have a respectable box office performance, and it came in at number one on its opening weekend before tapering off. Cavill portrayed the main character, Theseus, a man chosen by Zeus himself to face evil. Immortals played fast and loose with the Greek mythology, and despite the ending, Cavill’s Theseus would have probably returned for a sequel if the film had performed to its expectations.
Henry Cavill Movies and TV Spotlight: Man of Steel (2013)
The lukewarm reception of Superman Returns kept Superman off the big screen for seven years. Cavill had actually been up for the role of Superman in Superman Returns before it ultimately went to Brandon Routh. By the time that Man of Steel was casting, Cavill received another opportunity to play Superman.
Man of Steel was by far the most successful film of Cavill’s career to date, and it gave birth to the DC Extended Universe and Warner Bros.’ grand ambitions to build towards a Justice League movie. That said, there is still considerable controversy about Man of Steel and Cavill’s depiction of Superman. Not everyone was happy with it, especially hardcore Superman fans.
Henry Cavill Movies and TV Spotlight: The Man from U.N.C.L.E. (2015)
The Man from U.N.C.L.E. was the first test of Cavill’s post Man of Steel stardom… and it flopped, big time. It didn’t help that moviegoers were largely unfamiliar with “The Man from U.N.C.L.E.” TV series, which had been off the air for decades before director Guy Ritchie took a crack at modernizing it while maintaining the ‘60s era setting.
Cavill’s CIA agent Napoleon Solo was tasked by the CIA to team up with his KGB counterpart, Illya Kuryakin as portrayed by Armie Hammer. Both Cavill and Hammer have struggled to become breakout stars, so there was something fitting about their union in this film. And while The Man from U.N.C.L.E. received some positive reviews, audiences simply did not respond to it.
Henry Cavill Movies and TV Spotlight: Batman v Superman: Dawn of Justice (2016)
If nothing else, you can take this to the bank: Batman v Superman: Dawn of Justice is going to be a hit. Whether it can match the success of Marvel Studios’ films remains to be seen, but no one can say that DC/Warner Bros. isn’t trying to make this movie into an event. In addition to the title fight between Cavill’s Superman and Ben Affleck’s Batman, this movie is also introducing Gal Gadot as Wonder Woman and it will feature cameo appearances by several future members of the Justice League.
Perhaps the biggest question mark in this film is Cavill himself. Can Cavill’s performance finally get moviegoers to warm up to his take on Superman? The early trailers for this movie have captured Cavill’s intensity in the role, but it actually makes Superman more of a frightening character than he’s supposed to be. It’s gonna be hard not to side with Batfleck when the most powerful man on Earth has a perpetual scowl on his face!
