Why The Justice League Press Tour Was ‘Super Awkward’ For Henry Cavill

Henry Cavill is Superman

How does one promote a movie they’re not supposed to be in? This was a dilemma facing Superman himself, Henry Cavill, when it was time to do press for Warner Bros. Justice League film. When last we’d left our beloved Man of Steel at the end of Batman v Superman: Dawn of Justice, his body had been lowered into the ground following his ultimate sacrifice in the battle against Doomsday. Basically, everyone KNEW Superman was coming back, but in a new interview, Cavill admits how awkward and ridiculous it was for him to have to do Justice League press without being able to admit that he was in the movie.

It was one of those weird situations where no one really knew what they wanted, and it was like, 'Hey, we need Henry on the press tour, but let’s not tell anyone he’s in the movie.' I was like, 'Okay, well, it’s going to be super awkward for me, guys.’ Thank you for giving me an impossible scenario in which I’m just going to say to people [on the press tour], ‘Well, yeah, I was here for moral support. I made the tea, I made the tea for the entire movie.’

Henry Cavill was sitting down with Empire magazine’s film podcast to discuss his career arc, his current work on Netflix’s The Witcher, his potential future as James Bond and his past in the Superman tights. And over the course of that conversation, they landed on the awkward press tour that Cavill had to do for a movie he wasn’t meant to promote.

The peak example of this likely occurred on the red carpet for the actual premiere of Justice League where the interviewer LED OFF with the question, and Henry Cavill had to tap dance and soft shoe around the uncomfortable reality.

Basically, much like Henry Cavill, we are all ready to flush away the memories of anything that happened in Justice League, and turn our attentions to a version that’s expected to do right by the actor: Zack Snyder’s Justice League. And I think it speaks volumes that the very first clip that Snyder shared with fans during the Justice Con convention was of a resurrected Superman (Cavill) in his black suit. Why hide what we all know is coming?

That was followed by this fantastic trailer that Snyder shared at DC FanDome:

I wonder if Zack Snyder and his Justice League cast will do any press in the run up to this movie (or four-part miniseries) makes its way to HBO Max. It would be fitting for them to have the opportunity to course correct and officially right the wrongs that fell on them during the transition from Snyder to replacement director Joss Whedon. We shall see.

In the meantime, look out for Zack Snyder’s Justice League, which is coming to HBO Max some time in 2021.

Sean O'Connell
Managing Editor

Sean O’Connell is a journalist and CinemaBlend’s Managing Editor. Having been with the site since 2011, Sean interviewed myriad directors, actors and producers, and created ReelBlend, which he proudly cohosts with Jake Hamilton and Kevin McCarthy. And he's the author of RELEASE THE SNYDER CUT, the Spider-Man history book WITH GREAT POWER, and an upcoming book about Bruce Willis.