Zack Snyder Would Have “Destroyed” Superman To Reclaim Hero’s Humanity And Finish Henry Cavill’s DCEU Arc

Superman (Henry Cavill) succumbs to grief and Anti-Life in Zack Snyder's Justice League (2021), Warner Bros. Pictures
Superman (Henry Cavill) succumbs to grief and Anti-Life in Zack Snyder's Justice League (2021), Warner Bros. Pictures

Though stranger things have happened, Henry Cavill may never get to finish his story as Superman with James Gunn and DC Studios moving on with David Corenswet. But they and their nonplussing costume reveal are another story.

Clark Kent (Henry Cavill) seeks for guidance at church in Man of Steel (2013), Warner Bros. Pictures
Clark Kent (Henry Cavill) seeks guidance at church in Man of Steel (2013), Warner Bros. Pictures

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Returning to Cavill, we cannot know if his arc would have gone according to plan, although Zack Snyder knows how he wanted it to end, which he explained in a GQ career retrospective.

As opposed to finishing the arc in a proper Man of Steel trilogy, Snyder would have played things out through his Justice League trilogy in which Superman would be brought to his lowest and turn to the Darkseid.

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“He was going to have to succumb to the Anti-life, be destroyed, turn the clock back, and then get his chance for this battle against Darkseid,” Snyder affirmed, calling back to the storyboards put on display that laid out the proposed trilogy. 

He would add, “If you will… that would have finished his trilogy of becoming this guardian, and sort of, return him to his humanity.”

Superman (Henry Cavill) turns himself in to the Army in Man of Steel (2013), Warner Bros. Pictures
Superman (Henry Cavill) turns himself into the Army in Man of Steel (2013), Warner Bros. Pictures

Snyder’s cut of Justice League and its two unmade sequels would have tried to give Avengers: Endgame a run for its money. Boxed in by an evil brainwashed Superman, Batman and the remaining League would have to use time travel to undo the Knightmare.

The final act was to culminate in an epic battle between Apokolips’ forces and the people of Earth led by the League. Superman would have fought Darkseid, but Lex Luthor and Batman would’ve pulled the Tony Stark stunt and sacrificed themselves to stop the invasion.

Superman (Henry Cavill), Cyborg (Ray Fisher), Batman (Ben Affleck) and The Flash (Ezra Miller) let Apokolips know that Earth has defenders in Zack Snyder's Justice League (2021), Warner Bros. Pictures via Blu-ray
Superman (Henry Cavill), Cyborg (Ray Fisher), Batman (Ben Affleck) and The Flash (Ezra Miller) let Apokolips know that Earth has defenders in Zack Snyder’s Justice League (2021), Warner Bros. Pictures

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None of that came to pass and may not have even ended up canon under the direction Walter Hamada, Michael De Luca, and Pam Abdy were taking DC Films. 

After The Flash and Black Adam, the next proposed phase of Superman for Henry Cavill was a Man of Steel sequel co-starring Sasha Calle as Supergirl, and with Brainiac as the alleged villain.

Henry Cavill as Superman in Zack Snyder's Justice League (2021), Max
Henry Cavill as Superman in Zack Snyder’s Justice League (2021), Max

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