Cavill played the superhero in &34;Man of Steel,&34; &34;Batman v Superman,&34; and &34;Justice League.&34; Zack Snyder shares test photos of Henry Cavill in Christopher Reeve's Superman suit: 'It was undeniable' Cavill played the superhero in &34;Man of Steel,&34; &34;Batman v Superman,&34; and &34;Justice League.&34; By Sydney Bucksbaum :maxbytes(150000):stripicc()/headshotb5dc24df8d5d43d1a16c9ce0e0383119.jpg) Sydney Bucksbaum Sydney Bucksbaum is a staff writer at . She has been working at EW since 2019 and is a published author.
Cavill played the superhero in "Man of Steel," "Batman v Superman," and "Justice League."
Zack Snyder shares test photos of Henry Cavill in Christopher Reeve's Superman suit: 'It was undeniable'
Cavill played the superhero in "Man of Steel," "Batman v Superman," and "Justice League."
By Sydney Bucksbaum
:max_bytes(150000):strip_icc()/headshot-b5dc24df8d5d43d1a16c9ce0e0383119.jpg)
Sydney Bucksbaum
Sydney Bucksbaum is a staff writer at **. She has been working at EW since 2019 and is a published author. Her work has previously appeared in *TV Guide Magazine*, E! News/E! Online, *The Hollywood Reporter*, Mashable, Bustle, IGN, DCComics.com, Inverse, *The Daily Northwestern*, and more.
EW's editorial guidelines
December 26, 2025 6:14 p.m. ET
Leave a Comment
:max_bytes(150000):strip_icc()/christopher-reeve-henry-cavill-superman-122625-be9f91321d424916b5b1ebef9aabed2a.jpg)
Christopher Reeve and Henry Cavill as Superman. Credit:
Warner Bros.; Clay Enos/Warner Bros.
It's a bird! It's a plane! It's… Henry Cavill wearing Christopher Reeve's original Superman suit.
*Justice League* director Zack Snyder has shared two early test photos of Cavill in the iconic cape and spandex that solidified the actor's run as the Man of the Steel.
"Henry Cavill. The original Superman suit," Snyder captioned an Instagram photo Thursday. "This photo. It was undeniable."
While sharing another, more close-up shot, Snyder added, "With the last image I shared, and this one we showed WB, everyone agreed: Henry Cavill was Superman. That's where the journey began."
:max_bytes(150000):strip_icc()/Man-of-Steel-Henry-Cavill-122625-9d7acd291161417d8267e11725ab3066.jpg)
Henry Cavill in 'Man of Steel'.
This isn't the first time Snyder has offered a glimpse of Cavill in Reeve's original suit. In 2017, the filmmaker posted a behind-the-scenes shot of Cavill in the costume sitting in a makeup chair on set. However, these new photos are more in character and out in the world, showing Cavill in all his Superman glory.
"First test with Henry," Snyder wrote in the caption of the first photo posted to his Vero account in 2017, of which a blurry version emerged online three years prior. "I knew right away he was my Superman."
:max_bytes(150000):strip_icc()/christopher-reeve-superman-070925-75cbf1c9587e492dbfbde6a026d18e16.jpg)
Christopher Reeve in 'Superman'.
Silver Screen Collection/Getty
As Snyder explained during a 2016 interview, "We didn't have the suit made when Henry was auditioning, so he wore the original Christopher Reeve suit. He put it on and when he came out of the trailer, everyone was like, 'Dang, you're Superman!'"
Cavill recalled feeling imposter syndrome in that moment when speaking to * *in 2011. "All I could think was, 'Oh, God, they're going to look at me and go, 'He's not Superman. Not a chance,''" Cavill said. "The actor inside me was going, 'You're not ready! You're not ready!'"
But Snyder revealed that "no one laughed" when Cavill first walked out wearing that suit.
Henry Cavill Dons Christopher Reeve's Superman Suit In Test Shot
:max_bytes(150000):strip_icc()/mos-10175c_2-2000-116d947875b84ddcabb01baa1fa1b389.jpg)
James Gunn says it was 'terrible' letting go of Henry Cavill ahead of new 'Superman'
:max_bytes(150000):strip_icc()/Man-of-Steel-2013-070425-fcf5c3844c2744d3a8a31bd8fa76f362.jpg)
"Other actors put that suit on and it's a joke, even if they're great actors," Snyder added. "Henry put it on, and he exuded this kind of crazy-calm confidence that just made me go, 'Wow. Okay, this is Superman.'"
Reeve played Superman across four films between 1978 and 1987, paving the way for Cavill to debut as the beloved superhero (with his own modernized suit) in 2013's *Man of Steel*. Cavill continued wearing the cape in Snyder's follow-ups *Batman v Superman: Dawn of Justice *(2016) and * Justice League *(2017), and also made a cameo in 2022's *Black Adam*.
***Get your daily dose of entertainment news, celebrity updates, and what to watch with our EW Dispatch newsletter.***
Despite a promise of more to come as Superman, plans for Cavill to return to the character were scrapped after James Gunn and Peter Safran rebooted the onscreen DC Universe. David Corenswet took over the role, beginning in this year's *Superman*, opposite Nicholas Hoult and Rachel Brosnahan.
"It was really unfair to him and was a total bummer," Gunn previously said of the way Cavill found out about the recasting.**
- Movie Reviews & Recommendations
- Superhero Movies
Source: "EW Superhero"
Source: Superhero
Published: December 27, 2025 at 05:38AM on Source: RED MAG
#ShowBiz#Sports#Celebrities#Lifestyle