Henry Cavill would be Superman again, but Ben Affleck is done with Batman

The saga of the DC Extended Universe is an interesting one. It started in 2013 with Man of Steel, starring Henry Cavill as Superman. That seemed to make most people happy, but things took a turn in 2016’s Batman v Superman, which brought in Ben Affleck as Batman, and then kinda cratered with 2017’s Justice League. Excepting director Zack Snyder’s extended cut of Justice League, we haven’t seen Cavill or Affleck back in their super-suits since then.

Will the actors ever return? They have different feelings about that. Speaking to Collider, Cavill seemed down. “I felt like Man of Steel was a wonderful opening story, an origin story to Superman,” he said. “It left a lot of space for him to grow beyond that and become the hero that we recognize. Batman v Superman took a hard turn down a darker route and it was a Batman perspective story and so it didn’t really show the aspects of Superman which I was very, very keen to show.”

"Justice League Snyder Cut definitely leant into that a bit more. I had a bit more of a gentleness to the tone of the thing, but I would love to have the opportunity to play the Superman that we all know and love from the comics, as a continuation of his development and we see the hero. That would be really, really exciting for me because there is an opportunity to tell a lot of interesting story there. It’s just about finding the right hooks to have a character that is as good and idealistic as Superman, that there are wonderful opportunities to delve into what it’s like to exist as him and those hardships that come with that. When you have to save everyone, how hard is that on you? That could be an interesting line to run."

But will it be? Wait and see.

Ben Affleck doesn’t want to make “IP movies” anymore, which means no more superheroes

Meanwhile, Cavill’s castmate Ben Affleck sounds like he’s definitely done with superhero movies…and with big franchises altogether. “I don’t want to do IP movies, where you have this sort of built-in audience,” he recently told The Playlist. “That’s something I was interested in and liked, and I just don’t like anymore. I like other people who do it. And if you are going to do it, you should love it. And I love something different.”

It sounds like Affleck’s experience playing Batman burnt him out a bit on the whole mega-franchise thing, although he will have one more cameo as Bruce Wayne in the upcoming Flash movie. His new film The Tender Bar, a coming-of-age drama that couldn’t have less to do with superheroes, is out now.

Is Henry Cavill in the Mass Effect TV show?

Cavill, on the other hand, has fully embraced IP filmmaking. He plays the title role in The Witcher, which just dropped its second season on Netflix, and there are rumors that he could have a part in Amazon’s upcoming Mass Effect TV series. When Tech Radar asked him about that, he gave a brilliant non-answer:

"I can neither confirm nor deny, but of course I’d be interested. I’m a huge fan of the Mass Effect games and all depending on the storyline – there are so many factors that go into it – but the IP itself, I think, would be fantastic to be a part of and a lot of fun."

He’ll be in that show, I’m putting down my money now.

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