Over the years, many actors have portrayed DC’s iconic superhero, Superman, in different films. Yet, the one that has stuck with fans is Henry Cavill’s depiction of the character. While the actor only took up his first DC role in 2013, he was propelled to fame with Zack Snyder’s Man of Steel. It may be hard to imagine someone who played such a huge classic superhero could feel inadequate, but right since the early days, the actor has been very vocal about the issues he faced after taking up the role.

While it may still come as a shock, back in 2015, when Henry Cavill was promoting The Man from U.N.C.L.E., he made some rather stark confessions about the “curse” of playing Superman.

When Henry Cavill revealed the Superman “curse”

In 2015 Henry Cavill sat for an interview with The Guardian to promote his upcoming action film. While it continued, the actor was asked about his experience playing Superman since it had been only two years since he skyrocketed to fame. However, the actor did not give them the answers they were expecting. Instead, just like he was throughout the interview, the now 40-year-old got extremely candid about how the role was both “a blessing” and “a curse”.

During the conversation, Henry Cavill went on to explain that the blessing of being Superman was that, “You get more attention,” but with that blessing, there came the curse of having to look like the character. The actor said that ever since he took on the role, he felt the pressure to ” better f*cking look like Superman.” Cavill went on to tell the interviewer that this feeling had not come from issues in the dating scene, but rather from online trolls and even revealed that he used bullying techniques to keep himself in shape.

After dealing with that struggle for close to a decade, last year the actor announced that he would not be coming back as The Last Son of Krypton. But while the world was still grieving their loss, DC Studios announced that another actor would be taking up the role.

The world faces a reality with a new Superman

Back in 2022, Henry Cavill surprised his social media fans with a post announcing his return to DC’s Superman. But weeks later, the actor posted a second announcement that confirmed his departure from the DC franchise. However, in his post, it was evident that it was not the actor’s decision or choice.

While Henry Cavill might have been the fan favorite, DC’s new universe was not the place for Henry Cavill’s Superman, according to James Gunn. After months of searching, Gunn seems to have found the actor he thought was right for the role. And it ended up being David Corenswet, who was an actor in the Netflix series, The Politician. 

Corenswet may be an incredible actor, but he sure has some big shoes to fill as he follows Henry Cavill’s nine-year stint as Kal-El. And with the fans not too happy with how things played out, James Gunn and the actor may find it a little hard to win over the DC fandom.

What do you think about Henry Cavill’s revelation about the curse of being Superman? Let us know in the comments below.