BY ALEXANDRA LOUKERIS
Staff Reporter
Henry Cavill, better known by his role as Superman in the DC Universe, said that he will no longer be playing the character.
Given DC Comics’ track record of repeatedly rebooting their films, people have been skeptical about what DC would do now that they are without an actor to play the role of Superman.
“I think at this point for Superman in the DC films, it will be a big impact that Henry Cavill is leaving as Superman,” said junior Alessia Barbieri.
Screenrant.com reported on Cavill making a cameo in the upcoming DC film “Shazam.” However, shortly after, it was reported that Cavill “turned his cape in.”
“Henry Cavill is a great actor and portrays the role of Superman with excellence. His choice to leave the DC industry might hinder the 2019 film ‘Shazam,’ and it is going to be extremely difficult to find anyone to replace Cavill,” said junior Sabrina Fusco.
The DC Universe is frequently compared to the Marvel Cinematic Universe (MCU). While DC tends to reboot their earlier movies, the MCU has had one consistent storyline going since “Iron Man” in 2008.
“I think Marvel is more successful than DC because DC has not been able to nail a cast for their movies in the way that Marvel has, and DC’s film storylines are too dark,” said junior Kiara Ortega.
According to Forbes, one reason that Marvel is more successful than DC is that they connect the movies to the original comics. Marvel tends to hook the audience in by gradually introducing different characters into movies and eventually bringing them together in “The Avengers” (2012).
“I believe DC cannot stay consistent with characters throughout their cinematic universe because they are not focusing on one storyline, they are jumping around different DC universes to simply just produce movies,” said Fusco.
Since the start of the MCU, Marvel has had to recast only two of their superheroes, the Hulk and Spiderman. With the Hulk, Marvel broke their deal with Edward Norton from “The Incredible Hulk” (2008) and signed on Mark Ruffalo to play the part in lieu, starting with “The Avengers.” With Spiderman, Sony had previously owned the character rights, and since Marvel bought them back, the character had to be recasted.
“My all-time favorite Marvel movie has to be the classic ‘Spider-Man’ with Toby McGuire. ‘The Amazing Spider-Man’ with Andrew Garfield originated from a different series of comics and I did not like how it was portrayed on screen as much as the original. ‘Spider-Man: Homecoming’ with Tom Holland also comes from a different series of Marvel comics,” said Fusco.
Barbieri said she prefers Marvel due to their consistent storylines. But when it comes to DC, “The Dark Knight Trilogy” is her favorite.
“I just find them amazing and they portray the idea of how dark the Batman comics can be. Batman would usually be portrayed as a goofy kind of superhero, but in actuality he should be taken as very serious and even dark,” Barbieri said.
Between 2008 and the present, DC has produced several different Justice League films, with each film including a different Batman actor.
“I do not think DC can keep consistent characters throughout their cinematic universe due to the different contracts actors/actresses had to sign,” said Barbieri.
There is another factor, too, that contributes to the inconsistency of characters throughout the DC cinematic universe.
“I feel that Marvel is able to keep consistent characters because Disney has such a strong recruitment department and is more heavily funded,” said junior Stavros Xanthacos. “Actors are looking for high-paying salaries, and that’s what keeps them in Marvel.”
