With less than three weeks to go before Batman v Superman: Dawn of Justice hits theatres, promotion for the film is fully underway. Between features in Empire Magazine, comic variant covers or parodies on Jimmy Kimmel, there are not many places you can go without seeing something related to Batman v Superman.
In the latest issue of Entertainment Weekly, Superman actor Henry Cavill sat down for an interview with them and spoke about Superman’s perspective, where he is after the events of Man of Steel and how his humanity can be a weakness to be exploited.
“For me,” says Cavill, “when it came on to Superman’s weakness, it’s inside him. It’s the fact that he does really love humans. He loves what they bring to the world, he loves this planet and who he lives alongside, and he wants to really, really help them. We could go deep into the psychology of what that means and what that makes ones intentions on a daily basis when you’re a super-powered alien.”
He continues by saying “Essentially it’s that. That’s his weakness, that he doesn’t want to hurt anyone. He doesn’t want to scare anyone, and in that you can take advantage of him. It makes it very easy to take advantage of him. This is someone who is a complete amateur, and he’s facing up against someone who is very well versed in the arts of war.”
One of the aspects that makes Superman such a favourite hero, and a reason why Man of Steel garnered such controversy, is because Superman feels such a connection to humanity that when he fails, even if the failure could be considered insignificant, he takes it as a personal loss. Cavill is asked about this and whether he’s going through any kind of survivor’s guilt because of his inability to completely save Metropolis.
“I wouldn’t necessarily say it’s a survivor’s guilt. I mean, that’s a different kind of thing because he’s above the threat. I think the most difficult thing for him at this stage of the story is that he has just come to terms with the fact that he is really, really quite powerful and he hasn’t found any major vulnerabilities yet, and despite this, despite the enormous power that he has, he still cannot do everything, and he really struggles with that. It’s not just a quick, ‘Okay, I get it. I can’t save everyone.’ That takes a long time to work out.”
He also said that one of the comics he read in preparation for Man of Steel was actually the graphic novel Superman: Red Son, a story that was recently recommended in our Countdown to Batman v Superman, and how the idea of an offbeat story could be applied to the DC Extended Universe.
“I think the offbeat stories are great, and I read Red Son in particular before I did Man of Steel, to get an idea of the baseline of the character because despite the fact that it’s offbeat and he’s grown up in a completely different environment, the character is still, at it’s very core, the same thing, and I love that. I think what’s important now is to tell a story which is dedicated to sharing the same character in the comic books in the cinematic universe, and then after that’s been established, then we can start exploring some more of the offbeat stuff.”
For the full interview, check it out at Entertainment Weekly.
Fearing the actions of a god-like Super Hero left unchecked, Gotham City’s own formidable, forceful vigilante takes on Metropolis’s most revered, modern-day savior, while the world wrestles with what sort of hero it really needs. And with Batman and Superman at war with one another, a new threat quickly arises, putting mankind in greater danger than it’s ever known before.
SEE ALSO: Follow all of our Batman v Superman coverage here
Batman v Superman: Dawn of Justice is set for release on March 25th 2016 and sees Zack Snyder directing a cast that includes returning Man of Steel stars Henry Cavill (Superman), Amy Adams (Lois Lane), Diane Lane (Martha Kent), Laurence Fishburne (Perry White), Harry Lennix (General Swanwick) and Christina Wren (Carrie Farris) alongside Ben Affleck (Argo) as Batman, Gal Gadot (Fast & Furious 6) as Wonder Woman, Jason Momoa (Game of Thrones) as Aquaman, Ray Fisher as Cyborg, Ezra Miller (The Perks of Being a Wallflower) as The Flash, Jesse Eisenberg (Now You See Me) as Lex Luthor, Jeremy Irons (The Borgias) as Alfred Pennyworth, Holly Hunter (The Piano) as Senator Finch, Tao Okamoto (The Wolverine) as Mercy Graves, Lauren Cohan (The Walking Dead) as Martha Wayne, Jeffrey Dean Morgan (Watchmen) as Thomas Wayne and Callan Mulvey (300: Rise of an Empire), Jena Malone (Sucker Punch) and Scoot McNairy (Argo) in as-yet-unrevealed roles.
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Originally published March 9, 2016. Updated November 29, 2022.
