Henry Cavill is the actor who has been with the DCEU the longest and has a candid and honest perspective to offer about it. Cavill saw his maiden foray MAN OF STEEL (2013) panned by the critics before the DCEU hit rock bottom with the one-two punch of BATMAN V SUPERMAN: DAWN OF JUSTICE (2016) and SUCICIDE SQUAD (2016). Both movies were torn apart by critics and the former landed a slew of Razzie nominations for "worst of the year honors" including a "Worst Actor" nomination for Cavill himself.
Cavill, who has professed to being a fan of the charcter and the comic books was understandably upset with the way things were going - both as an actor as well as a fan - and candidly spoke at length to The Rake magaine while promoting the upoming JUSTICE LEAGUE. He hearlds the immense critical, culutural and commerical success of Patty Jenkins' and Gal Gadot's WONDER WOMAN (2017) in getting the DCEU out of its rut and taking it in a new direction. Read the relevant excerpts from his interview below.
Even if Marvel didn’t exist, we’d struggle. There was a style they [DC] were going for, an attempt to be different and look at things from a slightly different perspective, which hasn’t necessarily worked. Yes, it has made money but it has not been a critical success; it hasn’t given everyone that sensation which superheroes should give the viewer.
I think it is a wonderful time for the female hero. It is the perfect setting in social politics right now, we need it, we want that perspective, and Wonder Woman has struck at the ideal time and has become a phenomenal success, which is fantastic. Any success within the superhero universe, especially within the DC Universe, is wonderful, because I want to keep telling the Superman story; selfishly, that works for me.
I feel like now the right mistakes have been made and they haven’t been pandered [to], and we can start telling the stories in the way they need to be told. It is even better to come back from a mistake or stylistic error into the correct vein because it will make it seem that much stronger. Wonder Woman was the first step in the right direction.
Let us know what you make of Cavill's assessment of the DCEU in the comments section below!
Justice League
Ben Affleck as Bruce Wayne/Batman
Henry Cavill as Clark Kent/Superman
Amy Adams as Lois Lane
Gal Gadot as Diana Prince/Wonder Woman
Ezra Miller as Barry Allen/The Flash
Jason Momoa as Arthur Curry/Aquaman
Ray Fisher as Victor Stone/Cyborg
Jesse Eisenberg as Lex Luthor
Jeremy Irons as Alfred Pennyworth
Diane Lane as Martha Kent
J.K. Simmons as Commissioner James Gordon
Billy Crudup as Dr. Henry Allen
Kiersey Clemons as Iris West
Amber Heard as Mera
Willem Dafoe as Nuidis Vulko
Connie Nielsen as Queen Hippolyta
Joe Morton as Dr. Silas Stone
Julian Lewis Jones in an undisclosed role
Ciarán Hinds as Steppenwolf