"Needs to have a sense of realism in today’s world"- When Henry Cavill made his feelings clear on the approach of Man of Steel

With the new trailer for Superman (2025) now out, a lot of discussions seem to be geared around Henry Cavill's version of the iconic superhero, which started from Zack Snyder's Man of Steel. Over the years, the character and the Snyder movie have both aged well, leading many fans to complain about a new Superman film.

One of the things that seems to visibly separate Man of Steel and the new Superman is their approach to the subject. While James Gunn's version seems more comic-accurate, Snyder's approach had a certain amount of realism, something that Henry Cavill also appreciated.

Back in 2013, the Superman actor discussed this in an interview with Collider, where he singled out this realism aspect of Man of Steel, and why he felt it was necessary. When asked what Cavill felt when he came to know that Man of Steel plans to focus more on the realistic aspects, the actor said:

"The realism, I liked the idea immediately because the traditional Superman fans know what it’s all about and they will hopefully love and associate with the character anyway, because they’ve grown up with him and been there through his various stages of development."

He continued:

"But, the people who aren’t die-hard Superman fans still need to be able to associate with the character and that needs to have a sense of realism in today’s world, certainly a sense of science as opposed to mythology attached to it as well. So, people, as I say, can associate and have an emotional connection with him."

And true to what Henry Cavill said, the movie and especially the realism in it were well appreciated all around. Even now, fans continue to compare Cavill's version of Superman with the upcoming movie, where David Corenswet will take over the red cape.

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Henry Cavill's Man of Steel banked on the aspect of realism as one of its prime offerings

Perhaps one of the reasons the new Superman is receiving polarizing responses is because a lot of fans have not accepted David Corenswet's iteration yet, as compared to Henry Cavill's.

While there are a lot of things that the two will seemingly share, given that it is the adaptation of the same comic book hero, Man of Steel was always geared towards realism, something that was emphasized time and again by everyone involved in the movie, especially director Zack Snyder.

In a Forbes interview from 2014, Snyder said about this:

"I think with Superman we have this opportunity to place this icon within the sort of real world we live in. And I think that, honestly, the thing I was surprised about in response to Superman was how everyone clings to the Christopher Reeve version of Superman, you know? How tightly they cling to those ideas, not really the comic book version but more the movie version."

But with the James Gunn adaptation, which raised many eyebrows by replacing Henry Cavill, the movie is going to adopt a more comic-accurate approach to the film. Perhaps this is also because of the routine failures of multiple DC projects in recent years, which led the studio to pivot in a more comic-oriented direction, much like its ace competitor, Marvel.

Anyhow, whatever direction DC takes, Henry Cavill will not be a part of it. Cavill has a few projects stacked, however, including In the Grey, Voltron, and Enola Holmes 3, all of which are in production right now.