With Zack Snyder directing and Christopher Nolan helping to shape the story as well as taking an executive producing credit, Man of Steel was hardly going to be a barrel of laughs. Neither filmmaker is exactly regarded for the level of warmth and humor in their respective works, but the Superman reboot still gained a legion of fans and flew to $668 million at the box office, despite some criticisms of the entire enterprise feeling more than a little cold.
During the eight years since, there’s been constant debate over Snyder’s handling of the Big Blue Boy Scout, with many believing that he has a fundamental misunderstanding of what makes the hero tick. The comic book icon is usually a beacon of hope, one that often sees the best in the world and those who live in it, but the DCEU’s version of the character has always been somewhat aloof.
As much as audiences would love to see a big, colorful, loud and bombastic Superman blockbuster, it never felt as though it would ever happen on Zack Snyder’s watch, although the DCEU itself has evolved into embracing the ridiculous in the likes of Aquaman and Birds of Prey. We’ll just have to wait and see what J.J. Abrams brings to his in-development reboot, but insider Daniel Richtman is now claiming that Henry Cavill was never a big fan of Snyder’s take on the Kryptonian superhero from the beginning, as he wanted Clark Kent to be more hopeful.
While there are plenty of folks who would agree, Cavill has never publicly voiced any dissatisfaction about Snyder’s approach to the DCEU’s Superman, but now is probably the best time to let it be heard. After all, given that we know the actor won’t headline the next solo outing, he can pretty much say whatever he wants, because it’s clear that the studio has no intention of making him a focal point of his own franchise anymore.
