While there was already some excitement online for Black Adam ahead of its release this past Friday, the news that Henry Cavill shows up as Superman in the mid-credits scene has definitely given it a jolt. The actor isn't signed up for anything beyond this movie, though Warner Bros. Discovery is said to be keen to bring his Man of Steel back.
The Hollywood Reporter recently spoke to Black Adam cinematographer Lawrence Sher, and he confirmed that Dwayne Johnson's half of that interaction was shot before they even knew if they had Cavill.
"If we can get Henry to be in it, then we’ll figure that out on a future date," he recalls, revealing that a body double was used to fill in for Cavill. In what looked set to be Shazam! all over again, only the emblem on Superman's chest would have been visible, with the hero's face hidden in shadow.
"Watching an actor come out of a full silhouette into that, was actually goosebumps. 'Wow, this is 100 percent going to work. Now they need to figure out if they can get the guy with the head to be there.'"
"I went to a test screening in which they did the version without his head and it played gangbusters," Sher adds. "Then it was like, 'Now we got to get Henry.'"
As the trade explains, Johnson pushed for Cavill to be brought back, only to have former DC Films boss Walter Hamada reject the idea. The actor chose to go around him, getting the green light from Warner Bros. movie heads Michael De Luca and Pamela Abdy.
Last month, Cavill's half of the scene was shot in London, making him a very late addition to Black Adam. "There are certain people that are iconic as the characters that they play, and he’s really one of them," the Director of Photography concludes.
It's amazing that this all came together, and we have to give Johnson a lot of props for making it a reality. Now, we just hope that more of Cavill's Superman is on the horizon...