Henry Cavill
It has been a wild couple of weeks for Henry Cavill, who went from playing two heroic roles that everyone thought he was perfect for, Superman and Geralt of Rivia, to neither of those. After it was announced that Cavill was leaving The Witcher after next season, speculation turned to the idea that he would use that time to instead film new Superman content for DC, after his Black Adam cameo announced his return.
But as it turns out, The Rock, despite his best efforts, does not control the DC Universe. James Gunn and Peter Safran, the new heads of the DCU, have different ideas, and met with Cavill to tell him that no, he wouldn’t be playing Superman again any time soon, as a new, younger version was the plan for now.
Cavill posted a very gracious statement about it after the fact, and fans immediately wondered if he’d now go back to The Witcher after all.
No, he’s not doing that. Multiple entertainment industry sources have said that is not the plan, and just as that started circulating, it was announced what Cavill’s next big project would be. He’s executive producing and starring in a Warhammer 40,000 series for Amazon.
That may sound random to you, or like some sort of downgrade, but if you know Henry Cavill, you also know that he is a giant nerd, which I mean as a compliment. He’s the guy who almost missed his Superman callback because he was playing World of Warcraft. He builds PCs while wearing tank tops in his spare time. And he’s an enormous Warhammer 40,000 fan, the tabletop board game with expansive lore. So if there’s a Henry Cavill bucket list dream project, it’s probably not playing James Bond, as previously rumored, it’s this.
The Witcher
This announcement was all ready to go in the wake of this Superman news, and it seems likely that the original plan was for Cavill to leave The Witcher, do this Warhammer show instead while also starring in periodic Superman films. Now, there’s no Superman, so he’s free for Warhammer in full, and I guess maybe another Enola Holmes sequel or two.
Here’s Cavill on the Warhammer announcement, which he sounds over the moon about:
“I have loved Warhammer since I was a boy, making this moment truly special for me. The opportunity to shepherd this cinematic universe from its inception is quite the honour and the responsibility,” said Henry Cavill. “I couldn’t be more grateful for all the hard work put in by Vertigo, Amazon and Games Workshop to make this happen. One step closer to making a nigh-on lifelong dream come true.”
This may be a while off still, as it sounds like the earliest stages of this project, but no doubt Cavill will do whatever he has to in order to make it happen. And the way this shook out, it sounds like his departure from The Witcher really did not have to do with Superman, and was a combination of this project being on the horizon, and him not liking the direction of the Netflix show, which has departed from the source material amid rumors that the writers of the series don’t like the books or games which Cavill loves. There was clearly some tension there, and it was enough for him to leave three seasons into a five season adaption of the books.
So, what seemed like a pretty bad week for Cavill losing two huge roles has morphed into a celebratory one instead, as he gets to pursue a huge passion project with an Amazon-size budget. Good for him.
Follow me on Twitter, YouTube, Facebook and Instagram. Subscribe to my free weekly content round-up newsletter, God Rolls.
Pick up my sci-fi novels the Herokiller series and The Earthborn Trilogy.