It’s been two years since we last saw Henry Cavill don Superman’s cape for the DCEU, and while we currently wait to see what exactly Warner Bros. has in store for the future of the Man of Steel franchise, it’s starting to sound more and more likely that the actor is hoping to head to the MCU faster than a speeding bullet.
According to a new rumor from Cosmic Book News – so, as always, take this with a grain of salt – Kevin Feige and co. are interested in bringing the classic comic book character U.S. Agent to the big screen, and they want Cavill for the role. Originally created as a surrogate Captain America, it sounds like it’s the right time to adapt the villain-turned-hero considering Steve Rogers’ retirement post-Avengers: Endgame. While U.S. Agent was first introduced as a “patriotic” extremist, he sounds like the kind of modernized antagonist that would play well in the political thriller genre that Captain America: The Winter Solider and Black Widow have dabbled in.
Despite having portrayed Superman for at least three DC films, Cavill is no stranger to playing villains. Just last year, the actor was seen as Agent August Walker in Mission: Impossible – Fallout, going toe-to-toe with Tom Cruise’s Ethan Hunt to great critical acclaim. That film’s writer-director, Christopher McQuarrie, was slated to helm both a Green Lantern reboot and Man of Steel 2 for Warner Bros. (and possibly bring Cruise along with him to play Hal Jordan), but talks eventually fell through.
At the moment, it’s currently unknown what exactly WB is planning on doing with Superman on film. Considering the studio has recently brought in the younger Robert Pattinson to don the cowl in Matt Reeves’ The Batman, one can assume they’re planning on doing the same with Superman – either recasting the character or introducing a new take on Supergirl to fill in for him. According to Cosmic Book News, Warner Bros.’ apathy toward the franchise is all the more reason Cavill is interested in taking on a Marvel role.
If the actor does in fact jump ship, he could do much worse than Marvel. The studio, which is owned by Disney, now holds the key to the highest-grossing film of all-time. Plus, it seems like more performers love working for the studio than not, especially since they take great care in realizing their characters on the big screen. In any case, since the next half a decade of MCU films are already planned out, we’ll just have to wait and see if Cavill can make the leap in a single bound.
