The Man of Steel was purposely left out of most of
Justice League's promotional materials leading up to the movie's release, but now that the DC superhero flick has hit theatres, Superman actor Henry Cavill has shared his thoughts on the process of bringing his character back to life.
During the movie's press tour, Cavill spoke
about how this version of Superman is different from the character we saw in
Man of Steel and
Batman v Superman: Dawn of Justice, and how this new interpretation is more comic-accurate. Cavill said:
"This movie highlights the qualities of Superman that exist in the comic books. That's something I've always been very keen to highlight in the character. This rebirth provided the opportunity for me to play those characteristics."
The English actor talked about how he felt this is a natural progression from where things were left in
the previous films, and how this "refresh" for the character echoes DC Comics' ongoing storyline,
Rebirth. While keeping Superman out of the film's marketing helped keep things spoiler-free, there was also the potential for confusion from the general movie-going public. After all, it is pretty strange to see a poster featuring members of the Justice League without Superman. However, now that the movie's opening weekend has passed, Kal-El has been
appearing in some new posters.
Planning to have the Justice League come together without their most powerful member was a bold move, but the filmmakers have rationalized this decision by describing Superman's death as the driving force behind the creation of the superhero team.
Producer Charles Roven told the LA Times that Superman's presence is felt throughout the movie, even if he is only in the film for a relatively short time. He went on to say:
"The world is not the same without him, because he was representative of hope. Here's the thing: We wanted to make a movie that was about hope and the positive force hope is. And it meant that you had to bring him back."
This emphasis on hope is something that producer and DC Comics head Geoff Johns has stressed leading up to the release of both
Wonder Woman and
Justice League, and the launch of
DC Rebirth, so this will likely be a recurring theme for the franchise.