Before headlining DCEU’s Man of Steel and Netflix’s The Witcher, Henry Cavill fell inches short of landing the Bond gig in Casino Royale, followed by a lot of other losses. Even though the actor did have a massive boom in the 2010s and is once again in the conversation for the British spy, the scars from missing out on big roles didn’t quite wash away when he landed Superman.
As a result, despite landing the biggest role of his career, the Man of Steel star didn’t know how to react or behave to his big break in Hollywood.
Henry Cavill didn’t celebrate his Superman casting excessively due to his past losses
In contrast to the 2010s, which saw Henry Cavill in the shoes of Superman and Geralt of Rivia, the 2000s were full of letdowns for the actor. On top of losing the Bond gig, Cavill also missed out on Cedric Diggory in the Goblet of Fire and Edward Cullen in Twilight. Ironically, he also lost Superman to Brandon Routh in the early iterations of Superman Returns.
Given the sheer number of times he had to experience rejection from major roles, when he finally landed Superman for real, Henry Cavill was befuddled and didn’t know how to react to it. In addition to that, the Witcher star felt that earning the gig was just “getting a lottery ticket” rather than the lottery itself, which further explains the lack of celebration on his part.
He recalled (via Interview Magazine):
I remember looking in the mirror and going, ‘I’m Superman.’ But it was also one of those things where you go, ‘This isn’t winning the lottery—it’s getting a lottery ticket. Now I’ve go to work out which numbers to scratch …’ So I saw it as more of an opportunity than, you know, ‘Okay, I’ve won.’
Although the film itself opened to divisive reviews, it did launch Cavill to superstardom, and his depiction of Superman, while at times gritty, was generally a hit among fans, at least until the DCEU officially shut off.
Will history repeat for Henry Cavill again?
Considering that Cavill originally fell short of landing the Superman role before his 2013 turnaround, many are hoping that history will repeat for the actor when it comes to James Bond, a role he initially lost to Daniel Craig.
Moreover, with Barbara Broccoli no longer steering the wheel, the possibility of a Cavill-led Bond does seem bright, especially after the fan response to Jeff Bezos’ tweet, “Who’d you pick as the next Bond?”.
Whatever the case will be, it’s safe to say that the next mainline entry in the Bond saga is still years away, given the recent exit of the iconic producers.
This post belongs to FandomWire and first appeared on FandomWire
