Warner Bros. Discovery Facing Lawsuit For Firing Henry Cavill?
DC fans want to sue Warner Bros. for featuring Henry Cavill in the Black Adam end-credit scene, despite the production company knowing they weren't going to have the actor return.
The Snyder Bros are at it again. Fans of DC‘s previous movie universe, or “Snyderverse” as many call it, want to sue Warner Bros. Discovery, citing the appearance of Henry Cavill as Superman in a Black Adam after-credits scene as false advertising.
The newest Snyderverse tirade has drawn criticism from the other direction, with several DC fans calling the Zack Snyder devotees out on their lunacy.
The very idea of suing over an after-credit scene–commonly referred to as a stinger–is laughable on the surface. Stingers have been around since the ’60s, and the majority of them went unfulfilled until the Marvel era of cinema. Several box-office bombs like Masters of the Universe, Street Fighter, and the live-action Super Mario Bros. movie teased sequels that would never end up being made after their credits finished rolling.
So why would fans of DC‘s abandoned Snyderverse ever think that a lawsuit over a two-minute Henry Cavill cameo would be possible, never mind probable? Well, It’s actually DC’s own fault for setting a precedent with Zack Snyder’s Justice League, AKA the Snyder Cut. When Warner Bros. gave in to a small–but extremely vocal–section of DC fans, they opened a Pandora’s box of potential ret-cons and director cuts based on the demands of an angry cult of toxic fans.
When the DCEU (now called the DCU) officially kicked off with Henry Cavill as Superman in 2013’s Man of Steel, it was under the guidance of Zack Snyder. The 300 director had the freedom to realize his vision of a grim-dark DC universe where Superman and Batman both kill, much to many fans’ dismay. Warner Bros. made a decision based on (ironically) fan backlash against Snyder’s nihilist vision of superheroes, and pulled the plug on the Snyderverse, replacing the director three-quarters of the way through Justice League.
For years, angry Snyder fans campaigned for the director’s original cut of Justice League to be released. To be fair, the version directed by Joss Whedon, complete with a hideous CGI upper lip on Henry Cavill, was abysmal and could only be improved. Eventually, Warner Bros. said, “What the hell?” and gave what ScreenCrush reported as $70 million to Zack Snyder to finish his original vision for the film.
DC tried to make it clear that ZSJL was a one-time thing and that fans shouldn’t expect any more movies set in the Snyderverse, but the Snyder bros listened about as well as a toddler. Fans immediately called for an “Ayer-cut” of Suicide Squad and a Man of Steel sequel starring Henry Cavill.
It didn’t help that DC never officially abandoned the DCEU that Snyder created. Wonder Woman, Aquaman, and Shazam! were all praised for their lighter approach to superheroes but were all set in the same universe as before, retaining the same actors and everything. This includes Black Adam, a spin-off of Shazam!, and its Henry Cavill Superman cameo.
Even now, after James Gunn took over and said he was scrapping everything in favor of a new DCU, vestiges of the Snyderverse remain to muddy the waters. Gunn’s upcoming Waller features a character played by Viola Davis that started in the first Suicide Squad film. Gunn himself even admitted he knew he was getting the job and scrapping the existing universe before Black Adam even came out, meaning he could have easily axed the Henry Cavill scene at the end.
So do the Snyder bros have a legit chance at a lawsuit against Warner Bros. Discovery? It’s hard to say. On one hand, James Gunn’s admission is pretty damning. On the other hand, no moviegoer in their right mind can read an after-credit scene as a concrete promise of things to come. Even Marvel has quietly retconned or not followed up on some of their after-credit scenes.
The only thing for sure is that poor Henry Cavill doesn’t stand to gain anything either way. That dude deserves reparations for the goofy CGI lip they slapped on him alone!
