The following contains spoilers for Black Adam, now showing in theaters.
After a prolonged absence in the DCEU, the Man of Steel himself returned to the superhero franchise in Warner Bros. Discovery's recently released Black Adam, which brought back actor Henry Cavill as Superman. However, Cavill's face almost wasn't attached to the role. In fact, no face was.
As reported by The Hollywood Reporter, the addition of the film's highly-anticipated post-credits scene was very last minute, without any guarantee that Cavill would be able to appear. Actor Dwayne Johnson filmed his part and a body-double was used for Superman, accompanied by a version of John Williams iconic Superman theme music. The original version of the scene only showed the Man of Steel's emblem and not his face.
Getting Henry Cavill Into the Suit
The shoot took place during additional photography, with director Jaume Collet-Serra telling cinematographer Lawrence Sher, "Let's just quickly take this throne room set that we were working in… We're going to create something for Dwayne to walk into… And we're going to shoot it in like 10 minutes." Sher continued, "Watching an actor come out of a full silhouette into that, was actually goosebumps. 'Wow, this is 100 percent going to work. Now they need to figure out if they can get the guy with the head to be there.'"
Still, there were several obstacles standing between Cavill and the suit. The biggest was former DC Films president Walter Hamada rejecting the idea of Cavill's appearance in Black Adam, reportedly because he had other plans for the character. Star and producer Dwayne Johnson got around that by appealing to Warner Bros. Pictures co-CEOs Michael De Luca and Pamela Abdy, who approved. The post-credits scene was shot a month before the film premiered, and in London, where Cavill was working on a separate project, with Sher completing work remotely.
Even before the scene was filmed, however, Johnson has been open about teasing a battle between Teth-Adam and Superman. Producer Hiram Garcia even teased a multi-film rivalry, extending beyond a single fight. "They're going to clash at some point, but it's not just about a 'one fight' situation. That was never our dream. That does not reward the fans. Fans want to feel a journey between these guys knowing that these guys exist in the same universe," Garcia previously explained.
Warner Bros. Discovery's Black Adam is playing in theaters now.
Source: THR