Many are commenting on how strikingly similar David Corenswet (Hollywood, Pearl) looks to Henry Cavill (and it’s not just the comic-book character, Brandon Routh looked VERY different from Cavill in Superman Returns).
This is purposeful, for a while now I have said that I personally suspect that Warner Bros Discovery, David Zaslav and maybe even James Gunn wanted Henry Cavill (Man of Steel, BvS, and Zack Snyders Justice League) back in the role (we know that DeLuca and Abdy did). The Snyderverse may have been controversial, however, Cavill was one of the constants that everyone agreed was perfect about it.
Not only that but Cavill’s two Supermen films (yes Batman V Superman Dawn of Justice is a Superman story as much as Man of Steel is) were some of the highest-grossing Supermen films in history (When adjusted for inflation BVS came close to Superman the Movie and Superman II in earnings). David Zaslav respects box office earnings, as we can see by his allowing Reeves to do his own thing.
The Real Reason David Corenswet Replaced Henry Cavill in Superman: Legacy
So overall Cavill was popular in the role. However, unlike other Superman actors, Cavill is a popular actor, who recently shot to fame with The Witcher, Mission Impossible 6, and now Warhammer 40k on Amazon Prime. He is in demand, and that means he is EXPENSIVE.
Cavill was paid $500,000 for each of his cameos in Black Adam and The Flash. That is $1,000,000 dollars for what amounted to 60 seconds of footage.
Had he returned for the in-development Man of Steel 2, his salary would have likely been in the $7m-$10m range with a possible backend deal.
David Corenswet on the other hand is a virtual unknown actor, his salary will be the standard $300,000, with a small bonus if the film does well. Corenswet can also be signed to a multipicture contract that locked in his salary and bonuses (something I am sure Cavill opposed).
David Zaslav is a cold hard businessman, and even if he wanted Henry Cavill back in the role, he is cheap and has been cutting and slashing costs. The opportunity to save possibly $10m a film by recasting Henry Cavill would have been something he would go for.
The Real Reason David Corenswet Replaced Henry Cavill in Superman: Legacy
So back to my original point, David Corenswet looking like Henry Cavill is no accident, WBD KNOWS Cavill is and was widely popular, and they ordered the WISH.COM version of Cavill in the hope that it lures Casual fans back to the franchise because of its familiarity. It’s this same reason why James Bond never changes THAT much between incarnations, they want Bond to feel familiar enough to lure the viewer in. Same with Brandon Routh’s Superman echoing the familiar feel and look of the Donner era.
We are seeing that happen now with Superman Legacy. Notice of the three actors who tested for Clark Kent, the Cavill lookalike was the one chosen, not the others…
It’s a marketing trick…The only question is…Will it work?