Merrick here...
Yesterday we learned that Henry Cavill had been cast in Zack Snyder's new SUPERMAN movie.
Over at The Hollywood Reporter, Borys Kit has this brief-but-interesting piece about Cavill's casting - naming other actors who came close to landing the gig. Seems Cavill getting the part was, in large part, pre-destined.
Interestingly, Cavill was on McG's short list when the director was poised to take on the SUPERMAN franchise a few years back. When McG's involvement with that project waned (allegedly because McG was too scared to fly to required meetings, locations, and destinations), Bryan Singer came aboard and cast the picture his way - bringing us the underappreicated Brandon Routh and an otherwise lackluster film.
Sounds like Cavill came back onto Supes' radar when he caught Christopher Nolan's eye while trying to land the role of Bruce Wayne in BATMAN BEGINS. Nolan, of course, directed BATMAN BEGINS - and was a key component in getting this new SUPERMAN relaunch off the ground.
Late last year, many indications pegged Matthew Goode as a Superman front runner - Goode previously worked with Snyder on WATCHMEN, in which he played Adrian Veidt (Ozymandias). THR's sources say that Goode was "Cavill's closest competitor this time around" - so I guess those rumors were, indeed, correct. Other actors who considered include Matthew Bomer (on television's CHUCK, TRU CALLING, and GUIDING LIGHT), Joe Manganiello (Sookie's Werewolf escort on TRUE BLOOD), Colin O'Donaghue (who's currently on the big screen in THE RITE), and the magnificent Armie Hammer - recently seen as The Winklevi in THE SOCIAL NETWORK. Famously, Hammer was cast as Batman in George Miller's now-defunct-mega-epic JUSTICE LEAGUE CGI movie. Hammer...yeah. I can totally see him as a superhero - he would've made an amazing Superman/Kent as well. Someone give him a good superhero role!
You can find more details, including examples of Nolan's secrecy, in Mr. Kit's article HERE.
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