Henry Cavill says he hopes ‘to play Superman in years to come’ in chat with Patrick Stewart

His fans will get to see him as the Man of Steel again when director Zack Snyder debuts his director’s cut of Justice League to HBO Max next year.

But Henry Cavill revealed he’s hoping that won’t be the last time he dons the cape as Superman.

The 37-year-old actor said he’s hoping to play the iconic character for years to come in a conversation with Patrick Stewart for Variety. 

Stewart began by mentioning roles that can go on for years and create new opportunities for actors, much like the role of Jean-Luc Picard did for him on Star Trek: The Next Generation and subsequent films.

Cavill agreed and said he’d ‘always been incredibly grateful for’ the success of his superhero role.

‘I’ve always been a fan of Superman,’ he continued. ‘With a character like that, you carry the mantle with you off set. And it becomes part of your public representation.

‘When you meet children, children don’t necessarily see me as Henry Cavill, but they might see Superman, and there’s a responsibility which comes with that. Because it’s such a wonderful character, it’s actually a responsibility I’m happy to have, and I hope that I get to play more of Superman in years to come,’ he said.

Cavill added that playing Superman had completed shift his career arc. 

‘My life has changed dramatically because of it,’ he said. ‘And it has given me plenty of opportunity for roles, and yeah, it’s been one of those characters which changed the entire course of my career. I’m incredibly grateful for it, and it’s also taught me a lot about myself.’

The X-Men star pushed Cavill to delve more into how playing Superman had changed him as person.

‘He’s so good, he’s so kind, and when you start to compare yourself to him, because you’re playing him, you start to really look inwards,’ the actor continued.

‘You say, “Am I a good person? Can I be a good enough person to play Superman?” And if you ever hear a whisper in there which is like, “Hmm, hold on a second. Maybe not,” then you adjust it, and you make sure you are a better person. I think that’s all we can do in life.’

The feeling was a familiar one for Stewart. 

‘There was a touch of that with both Jean-Luc Picard and Charles Xavier,’ he said of his Star Trek and X-Men characters. 

‘I felt with both of them that they do have an impact, like you have described, on my private life. In that there was a sort of standard of morality and behavior that you needed to uphold because if you didn’t they would reflect badly, negatively, on the character that you were playing.’

In May, Deadline reported that Cavill actor would be back for another go as Superman, though he’ll most likely not appear in a sequel to 2013’s Man Of Steel.

There also aren’t any films that would have a major role for Superman coming up, so he would likely be filming a small cameo, possibly in the Aquaman sequel or Dwayne Johnson’s Black Adam. 

Next year, Superman fans can see him in Zack Snyder’s director’s cut of Justice League (2017), which will premiere on HBO Max.

Snyder originally left the production following the death of his daughter, and Avengers director Joss Whedon was brought in to finish the film and do reshoots.

He brought some of his snarky brand of humor that has characterized rival Marvel films after Warner Brothers wanted to move away from the dark direction of the critically reviled Batman V Superman: Dawn Of Justice.

While the new cut won’t be a true director’s cut, as Snyder isn’t being allowed to shoot any of the material he initially planned to, he’ll have free reign to reedit with existing footage, including significant chunks that were cut out of the theatrical cut.

The Snyder Cut will likely need new vocal overdubs, so Cavill may still do some voice work for it.