Henry Cavill Was Totally Right 11 Years Ago About The Potential Of The DCEU’s Most Wasted Character

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11 years later – and two years after the end of the DCEU – Henry Cavill is arguably more right than ever about the potential of the franchise’s most wasted character. The DCEU timeline has some epic highs and lows, leading to the decision to reboot the DC movie empire into the DC Universe timeline following the final DCEU release of Aquaman and The Lost Kingdom. With the franchise’s movies managing some over $1 billion box office successes, and some critical failures as well, it’s as clear that there was real promise in the DCEU as it’s clear that the path forward for it got increasingly complicated.

Much of this can be attributed to the changing plans for the DCEU, which appear to have altered quite drastically and frequently from Zack Snyder’s initial framework for the franchise, which included a trilogy of Justice League movies that audiences only eventually saw one of. However, this often only makes it all the more interesting to look at the early days of the DCEU, and the plans and hopes that were discussed. This idea is particularly true when it comes to live-action Superman actor Henry Cavill, who nailed describing the promise of a wasted DC hero before they even debuted.

Cyborg’s Potential Was Teased Even Before The Character Debuted In The DCEU

In a 2013 interview with Warner Bros to promote Man Of Steel, Henry Cavill discussed both the DC movie and the DCEU’s future – topics that were still relatively unclear given the Superman movie was the first installment in the franchise. This discussion included mention of other prospective heroes who could be on the horizon, with the actor notably stating: “Cyborg I think would make a wonderful character, and an incredible bridge between both superhumans and humanity in a different way to Batman – and so I don’t know when he’s coming or if he’s coming, but that’s what I’m particularly excited about.”

Interestingly enough, an iteration of Cyborg would indeed be on the way for the franchise, with the character debuting in a cameo within 2016’s Batman V Superman: Dawn Of Justice, and then appearing in both 2017’s Justice League and Zack Snyder’s Justice League in 2021. With his backstory seeing him revived by the power of the Mother Boxes – which are a focal point of both versions of the Justice League movie – Cyborg was a perfect opportunity to tie the extraterrestrial side of DC’s lore closer to the Justice League.

Similarly, since Cyborg is traditionally a younger hero – and the DCEU kept this element of the character, with Victor Stone being a college football star before the accident that eventually transforms him into Cyborg takes place – introducing the character to the franchise opened up a lot of possibilities in terms of bringing other characters into the fold. While Cyborg is most closely tied to the Teen Titans in pop culture, this is by no means the only faction or set of characters he has ties to, especially since Cyborg is a key figure in a range of major DC comic stories.

How The DCEU Wasted Cyborg

The DCEU’s Handling Of Cyborg Squandered The Potential The Character Held

Justice League‘s release infamously led to many criticisms, including that the movie had wasted Cyborg as a character, with the tragic and compelling backstory of the hero seldom focused on, delegating him to the periphery of a story that he could easily have been more of a core player in. The mishandling of Cyborg grew more complicated later following Victor Stone actor Ray Fisher alleging that Joss Whedon had demonstrated “gross, abusive, unprofessional and completely unacceptable” behavior while working with the Justice League crew for the movie’s reshoots, suggesting this could have played a part in Cyborg’s reduced role.

While Zack Snyder’s Justice League featured more of Cyborg – allowing a little more of the emotional core of the character’s arc to come through – it came at a point where it seemed unlikely the plans for Cyborg’s Justice League 2 or 3 story would ever be followed up on. Despite both versions of the movie teasing that the hero did indeed have the kind of on-screen potential that Henry Cavill had talked about, these installments were the last appearance of the character, meaning audiences got their first tangible look at Cyborg’s promise just as his DCEU story ended.

Ultimately, Ray Fisher’s Cyborg isn’t the only hero to have had a complicated path in the DCEU, with even major figures like Batman and Superman appearing to have also been casualties of the constantly altering trajectory of the franchise – as evidenced in some ways perhaps best by Superman’s several faceless DCEU cameos. However, Cyborg is a notable example in the sense that the brevity of his story – despite the seeming setup for him to potentially be a main player – does highlight how different the franchise could have been had things taken a different path.

The DCU Has The Chance To Do Right By Cyborg & His Full DC Comic Potential

The DC Universe Can Make The DCEU Cyborg Story Dreams A Potential Reality

Despite the DCEU itself having come to an end in 2023, Henry Cavill’s comments about Cyborg and his potential in a shared cinematic universe are still as valid now as they were all those years ago. As such, there’s still real potential for the DC Universe to use the reboot to do justice to Cyborg’s on-screen story, giving him a more cohesive arc and potentially a bigger and more long-lasting role in the new overarching franchise.

With rumors of a Teen Titans movie on the horizon, it seems entirely possible this could bring Victor Stone onto the big screen once more, and provide him with a more satisfying payoff that brings a taste of what some had hoped for from Cyborg’s DCEU story. Indeed, putting Cyborg in the DCU Titans could be the perfect way to do just that, as the more balanced nature of the team inherently lends itself to giving the whole team a more equal balance, versus DC’s natural focus on big-name figures like Batman and Superman coming through in the Justice League.

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