Henry Cavill Was Almost Superman Once Before
Posted 02.01.11 by Ryan
Over the weekend, Warner Bros. and director
Zack Snyder announced that British actor Henry Cavill was cast in the title role of the upcoming Superman reboot, beating out several other secret contenders.
While Joe Manganiello was recently mentioned as being in contention for the role, and Matthew Goode was rumored to be up for the role as well, the selection process was kept a well-guarded secret by Snyder, producer Christopher Nolan, and Warners. THR reports that Cavill also beat out actors Armie Hammer (The Social Network), Matthew Bomer (White Collar), and Colin O'Donoghue (The Rite) for the role. Cavill might have an advantage over the other actors, since he'd already been attached to the role once before.
Well before director Bryan Singer took over the director's chair for Superman Returns, McG was set to direct a Superman script written by J.J. Abrams. Cavill told MTV in 2009 that he was close enough to the part that he even wore the cape.
I was attached to the McG Superman movie. Then Bryan Singer came on and took the helm and he made his movie. [The McG and Singer versions] were two different movies. So it wasn't so much of a sting because it was like, "Oh, I got [the role]," and then the movie just didn't happen.
In a more recent interview, Cavill admitted the project was grounded due to McG's ironic "fear of flying".
Yes, there was talk about that, a while ago now. Must have been four or five years ago, maybe more. When McG was working on a script with them. I don’t know how close I came. I understand it was very, very close and sadly the movie was canceled because McG didn’t want to fly. He certainly had a big fear of flying at the time; I think he’s since overcome it. He wanted to shoot in New York, they wanted to shoot in Australia for obvious reasons. He said, "I can’t do it," and they moved on. These things happen. It’s the nature of the business.
Years later, Cavill has the role he almost was cast in long ago. According to a MTV poll, fans approve of Cavill's casting, but you can share your thoughts with us in the comments below.