'Mistakes Were Made': Henry Cavill Speaks Candidly About the DCEU's Rocky Start and Hopeful Future

Since 2013's Man of Steel, the DCEU has had a mixed reception from fans and critics alike. While some have loved the films (and are very vocal about this fact), many others have openly criticised a number of the decisions made within them, especially the overly political and overstuffed Batman v Superman: Dawn of Justice.

Thankfully, #WonderWoman was a roaring success, and shows that there is hope for DC's foray into a cinematic universe. The trailers for #JusticeLeague seem to have followed the examples of Wonder Woman and look a lot brighter than previous offerings from the DCEU. Despite this brighter outlook, it took a while for a many to be convinced — including Superman actor, #HenryCavill.

Cavill Believes The DCEU Hasn't Worked... Yet

Interestingly, the actor who started the universe off also has mixed feelings about the execution of the DCEU's films. He even discussed Marvel's impact on DC's universe with the Rake magazine:

"Even if Marvel didn’t exist, we’d struggle. There was a style they were going for, an attempt to be different and look at things from a slightly different perspective, which hasn’t necessarily worked. Yes, it has made money but it has not been a critical success; it hasn’t given everyone that sensation which superheroes should give the viewer."

If there's one thing that fans leave a #Marvel film with, it's a sense a joy. The heroes are allowed to struggle, but ultimately, they save the day and they do so in a fun and uplifting way. The highly polarizing climax of Man of Steel features #Superman having to make an impossible decision: kill Zod or allow innocent civilians to die. In order to save the family, he snaps Zod's neck, a decision that rocks Superman to his very core.

Many fans were critical of this scene in particular, as they felt that Superman would have found another way to save the family. Even Cavill admits, mistakes were made with regards to story decisions, but now DC can learn from them and create the films their heroes deserve:

"I feel like now the right mistakes have been made and they haven’t been pandered [to], and we can start telling the stories in the way they need to be told. It is even better to come back from a mistake or stylistic error into the correct vein because it will make it seem that much stronger. Wonder Woman was the first step in the right direction."

Wonder Woman's Success Can Lead To More DCEU Successes

After three very mixed outings, Wonder Woman finally gave us the DC film we were waiting for, a triumph of storytelling that perfectly showed the superhero's values. Not only that, DC gave us a female-led superhero movie — something Marvel had seemed reluctant to do. Cavill firmly believes that the success of Wonder Woman can be the spark for a new wave of DC films:

"I think it is a wonderful time for the female hero. It is the perfect setting in social politics right now, we need it, we want that perspective, and Wonder Woman has struck at the ideal time and has become a phenomenal success, which is fantastic. Any success within the superhero universe, especially within the DC universe, is wonderful, because I want to keep telling the Superman story; selfishly, that works for me."

Cavill obviously wants to continue reprising his role as Superman for many years to come, and for the most part, he's been a worthy Man of Steel. He certainly looks the part, so maybe given more positive material, he could give us the Superman we all want to see on screen. Thanks to Wonder Woman, we have some hope that the DCEU can learn from its past and finally deliver us the DC cinematic universe the Justice League deserve.