Similar to "Watchmen," Zack Snyder's 2013 superhero outing "Man of Steel" was met with mixed reaction. But whereas this writer thought "Watchmen" deserved immense credit for bringing something new to the superhero genre, "Man of Steel" left a lot to be desired. Though the launching pad for the DC Extended Universe featured some of the best action scenes in any comic book movie, there were flaws when it came to character and story structure.
With Henry Cavill set to return as the last son of Krypton in March's "Batman V Superman: Dawn of Justice," the actor recently addressed the lukewarm response to "Man of Steel" and how that played into his upcoming outing.
"The reception for my first Superman movie, from what I've read, was fairly mixed," Cavill said. "There's no intentional move, I don't think, in Batman v. Superman to address any issues that people had with Man of Steel. It's just a continuation of that storyline and they continue to develop that world and introduce new characters."
You have to admire Cavill's acknowledgement that not everyone enjoyed his iteration of Supes. While critics of the film can't lay all the blame on his shoulders, there were certainly some legitimate qualms about Cavill's wooden portrayal of both Clark Kent and Superman.
Snyder shouldn't be trying to retroactively fix "Man of Steel" with "Dawn of Justice," which is why it's encouraging to hear Cavill echo that sentiment. Fortunately, he may have a shot at redemption in this new film. Based on the trailers and what we know of the story, audiences may see a different side of Superman this time around. Under a global microscope and considered to be a threat of extinction level proportions, Supes has a right to be a little grumpy when Ben Affleck's Batman starts causing trouble for him. How he handles all of this external pressure will be interesting to see.
Snyder and Cavill can't change what's already been done. All they can do is try to make the best movie they can this time around. Let's all remain cautiously optimistic.
"Batman V Superman: Dawn of Justice" hits theaters on Mar. 25.
