All 12 Superman actors ranked from worst to best

5. Henry Cavill

Appeared in: Man of Steel, Batman v Superman: Dawn of Justice, Justice League, Zack Snyder’s Justice League, Black Adam

Henry Cavill was tasked with launching a brand new Superman franchise when he headlined 2013’s Man of Steel. This was a post-Dark Knight world, where many superhero origin stories were trying to follow the Batman movie’s example and offer up more serious and grounded stories, and Cavill certainly delivered in the role, updating the Man of Steel for a modern generation while also giving us the beginnings of the triumphant hero we were familiar with.

Unfortunately, the DC Extended Universe would drop the ball with follow-up installments, with tonal inconsistencies and grim scripts preventing Cavill from following through on Kal-El’s evolution. Instead of the hopeful hero bringing light to the darker DCEU, we were given a Superman that also struggled under all that darkness.

Superman does have the weight of the world on his shoulders, but the thing about him is that he’s supposed to remain a hopeful, positive symbol through all of that. While we always appreciate seeing the more human side to him that struggles with that balance (see: Superman and Lois), the DCEU failed to get the balance right. It looked like Zack Snyder’s Justice League might finally set him on the right path, but Warner Bros.’ refusal to acknowledge that movie as canon created a huge roadblock. And that robbed Henry Cavill of the heroic Man of Steel sequel we all wanted to see.

Just like the controversy over his exit from the DCEU, the fault here lies with the powers that be. Cavill had all the makings of an excellent Superman and did a great job with the material he was given, but he deserved so much better.