When Henry Cavill stepped down as DC’s Man of Steel mere days after donning the cape again, the entirety of the fandom exploded on James Gunn as a consequence. It was the latter’s vision of a revamped DC Universe that led to the end of Cavill’s tenure as Superman after all. In reality, however, the British actor’s clock in the superhero franchise had already started to tick way before it was overhauled.
As it turns out, Gunn isn’t the one culpable for Cavill’s exit from the franchise (at least not technically), Zack Snyder is.
Zack Snyder is Responsible for Henry Cavill’s Exit As Superman
In the days following Henry Cavill‘s departure from DC as the beloved Superman, fans broke out in a frenzy of confusion and fury; social media was transformed into a war zone and the internet was swimming in a cocktail of pure turmoil as people hurled lamentations and volatile pleas toward studio co-CEO James Gunn, begging him to reinstate their favorite actor back. It didn’t help that their hopes had been snatched away from them just days after Cavill’s return was announced.
But Gunn, 56, is not really the one to be blamed because all he did is pull the trigger on the chain of events that had been set in motion long before he overtook the company with Peter Safran. The real culprit behind The Witcher star’s inevitable withdrawal is the man who showed him the ropes himself, Zack Snyder. In fact, Cavill’s future at DC had crumbled into precarity with his debut venture itself after 2013’s Man of Steel.
While Cavill’s Superman was cherished by all, it’s no secret that Man of Steel ended up disappointing the majority of the fanbase with its somber tones that stood in sharp contrast to Clark Kent’s otherwise bright legacy imbibed with hope.
Despite a commendable box-office performance, the dark and brooding version of the superhero that Snyder put forth fell flat on the audience. So, in a way, the director set himself up for failure, unknowingly dragging his leading man along in the mud.
Then came the Batman v. Superman fiasco.
Dawn of Justice & Snydeverse Ultimately Worsened the Situation
2016’s Batman v Superman: Dawn of Justice was perhaps the most divided DC had ever witnessed his audience, a rather controversial subject that continues to be the topic of blazing discussion even after nearly a decade of release.
Sure, there were people who loved seeing Ben Affleck‘s Caped Crusader share the screen with Cavill’s Man of Steel, but most of them, if not all, happened to be die-hard Snyder fans. Critics and a more generic audience, however, found innumerable factors to nitpick from what transpired to be a sure-shot catastrophe. It didn’t matter that Dawn of Justice amassed over $800 million in the global circuit; its gargantuan box-office success did little to assuage the heaving, almost palpable disappointment oozing from the audience.
With yet another one of Snyder’s projects struggling to meet fans’ expectations and inching toward the dangerous precipice of critical failure, the DC Extended Universe that the 57-year-old had propped up on unstable hinges became even more tumultuous and incohesive. So, the prospect of a Man of Steel sequel had always been too good to be true from the very beginning given the haphazard nature of the DCEU.
The Justice League director’s skewed vision of Superman and lack of symphony among his films and storylines thus became the reason behind the demise of Cavill’s Clark Kent. Gunn merely acted on something that had been long overdue.
Both Man of Steel and Dawn of Justice are available for streaming on Netflix.
Source: CBR.com
