Henry Cavill has had one foot in and one foot out of DC's door since becoming Superman. Whereas the likes of Chris Hemsworth and Mark Ruffalo have all but dedicated themselves to their Marvel counterparts, Cavill had the Justice League VFX team working overtime, digitally removing his Mission: Impossible mustache.
Cavill is still contractually obligated to appear as Superman in one more DCEU film, but that hasn't stopped his rumoured entry into the Marvel Cinematic Universe. The rumours that Disney is courting Cavill, of course, sent the Internet ablaze. The man has starred in Netflix's The Witcher series since his last role as Superman in 2017's Justice League, proving that he's not afraid to go full throttle into total nerdom. Fans have already lined the actor up for countless potential roles, including Captain Britain, Cyclops, Doctor Doom, Hyperion, Sentry, and Wonder Man (these are all real guys, I promise!).
There's just one problem: the MCU is getting too big. Right now, we already have dudes named Kingo and Pip the Troll. If you don't even know who those two are, that only proves how unruly this comic book universe has become. Hell, the film they both appeared in, The Eternals, introduced a massive god that is now sticking out of the Earth! No MCU property has really addressed it in any meaningful way. If Cavill is going to go from playing Superman to a character like Vision's brother, Wonder Man, for one season, it would feel like a pretty major step down.
At the same time, switching sides and becoming one of Marvel's Superman analogs, like Hyperion or Sentry, might just be the final nail in the coffin for DC. Not many people outside of real comic-book heads have heard of these characters. Still, it certainly would make sense, if Cavill is actually looking to jump ship to wherever he can. Warner Bros. is not only hemorrhaging content to cut costs, but the film studio is also dealing with a crisis regarding the chaos surrounding The Flash actor Ezra Miller.
Hell, playing Loki's himbo variant may just be the easiest way out for Henry Cavill. For fans, however, we should want more than from Disney than to simply fill out the Marvel roster with well-known actors. Where are the grand stories? How much more maddening could the multiverse get? A new Avengers team has yet to be officially formed. Plus, no one in the MCU seems to care about how monumental it is that Anthony Mackie is technically Captain America now. I simply do not have the brainpower to fit Henry Cavill in here, too.
Josh Rosenberg is an Assistant Editor at Esquire, keeping a steady diet of one movie a day. His past work can be found at Spin, CBR, and on his personal blog at Roseandblog.com.
