Henry Cavill On His Superman Suit, Shirtless Pics And Why Superman Doesn’t Have To Be Played By An American
Since Henry Cavill was cast as the Man of Steel in Zack Snyder’s movie titled… well… ‘Man of Steel’, comic fanboys have nitpicked everything about anything that has leaked from the set. Some weren’t fans of Superman’s costume dropping the red underwear-on-the-outside look. Others thought Cavill’s costume was too dark. Some fans have even said that Cavill shouldn’t be allowed to play the iconic hero since he’s British and not American.
In a recent interview to discuss his upcoming role in ‘The Immortals’, the conversation turned to Superman and Cavill gave his thoughts on why Superman doesn’t have to be played by an American. Cavill had this to say:
“It is an iconic American role… well, he’s an American icon. Whether it’s an American role or not, I can’t be sure. Superman is a universal image, and what he stands for is very universal. He was certainly raised in America, but he in himself is not necessarily American, because he comes from somewhere very far away and very different, and he is very different. And therefore all the more beautiful when he tries to do so much for all of us who are so different from him.”
In that same interview, Cavill was asked about how it felt to don the Superman costume for the first time. Here’s Cavill’s answer:
To wear that skin-tight suit in the first place, Cavill had to get into shape for ‘Man of Steel’. Fans got a look at just how ripped Cavill is under the uniform when some shirtless photos appeared of the actor on the set. When asked about the images and how they played into the movie, Cavill answered:
“That’s only once sequence, a small sequence in the movie. It’s just people like to take a lot of photographs of it when they get the opportunity,” he explained. “It’s an essential thing for something like Superman. You’ve got to prove to everyone that it’s a super man, it’s not all fake, not all smoke and mirrors.”
So, despite your thoughts on the costume, Superman’s new look, or even Cavill’s spot in the role, it seems like the actor has a good grip on what it takes to be Krypton’s Last Son. I can’t wait to see how this translates to the big screen. I mean… c’mon! It’s Superman! The original superhero. If DC has any chance of taking the lead in comic book movies, this is it!
Michael Shannon Has No Idea What His Zod Costume Looks Like
With all the eyes on Cavill in the hero role, there hasn’t been much word on the villains of ‘Man of Steel’. Michael Shannon, who plays the Kryptonian villain General Zod, has been seen in a motion-capture suit in some set pics. In an interview with Entertainment Weekly, Shannon confessed that even he has no idea what the Zod costume will look like in the finished film.
The character of Zod was played to diabolical perfection by the legendary Terrence Stamp in the original ‘Superman: The Movie’ (1978). Shannon realizes that he has some pretty big shoes to fill. Of the original Zod, Shannon says, “He was phenomenal. I have to try and figure out a way to do something different.”
In ‘Superman: The Movie’, Zod wore a black getup that looked like a cross between a military uniform and a karate uniform. Shannon says that the new uniform will be new. Actually, Shannon says that Zod will have at least two different outfits over the course of ‘Man of Steel’ and, one of them, the actor has yet to see. “Yeah, the flowy costumes don’t really … that’s not the style nowadays. Everything’s skin-tight. There are two different modes. There’s something that I have to wear a motion-capture suit for, because if I actually wore it, I wouldn’t be able to move. It’s a very big … thing. I actually don’t know what it’s going to look like, I just know that it’s very cumbersome. There’s another thing that I wear that’s an actual costume. It’s pretty simple.”
It sounds to me like Zod might wear some sort of battlesuit a la Lex Luthor in Superfriends. While I absolutely love that thought, I would rather see Luthor in the battlesuit than Zod. I mean, Zod’s a Kryptonian. He’s Superman’s equal. There’s no reason that he should need a robotic suit.
Of course, any thoughts on the suit are simply speculation. Even Shannon says he has no idea what the final suit will look like. “That’s the thing about these movies. I could have an elephant head.”
