How Zack Snyder Really Feels About Henry Cavill's Deadpool & Wolverine Cameo

"Deadpool & Wolverine" turned cameos into an art form — quite an achievement for a movie that seems to sneer at the idea of film itself as an art form. Look, "Deadpool & Wolverine" is a grand old time at the movies, and taken as such it's a harmless piece of viscera-soaked, meta-joke-filled, cameo-stuffed entertainment. So, let's just assume you've seen the movie and enjoyed it on this level. In that case, you probably convulsed with glee at each new cameo that "Deadpool & Wolverine" unveiled, which would mean you basically didn't stop convulsing from the moment this cameo-fest kicked off.

The movie is packed full of the biggest and best cameos we've yet had from a Marvel movie, but what makes this film unique is that it serves not only as a way of shoehorning in other Marvel Cinematic Universe characters — to enhance that all-important corporate synergy — but also as a paean to the erstwhile 20th Century Fox Marvel movies. Disney's 2019 acquisition of Fox allowed Ryan Reynolds and Marvel Studios head Kevin Feige to cram this threequel full of fan favorites from the Fox era, like Hugh Jackman's Wolverine himself to Dafne Keen's X-23 and Wesley Snipes' Blade.

But guess what? Reynolds and Feige weren't content with pandering to the 30 and 40-somethings who remember the pre-MCU days. They also packed "Deadpool & Wolverine" full of other callbacks, Easter eggs, and references to much more contemporary superhero movie developments. Case-in-point: Henry Cavill, who shows up midway through the film as what Reynolds himself termed "Cavillrine." But this cameo also came with a jab at DC and Warner Bros., for whom Cavill played Superman for nearly a full decade.

Some might say Henry Cavill's appearance in "Deadpool & Wolverine" was the best cameo in the whole movie and proved the actor has always been in the wrong superhero universe. There's no doubt Cavill has a loyal fanbase that only wants to see the man shine after what was an undeniably anticlimactic end to his tenure as the Man of Steel. When he shows up in the film, it's as part of a montage that sees Deadpool traverse the multiverse in search of a new Wolverine variant. The brief moment not only allows fans to see what the British star would have looked like as Logan, but we also get another fourth-wall-breaking wisecrack from Deadpool about how Marvel would treat the actor better "than the studio down the street" — that studio of course being Warner Bros. and DC.

For anyone who isn't as engaged with the intricacies of the now-defunct DC Extended Universe — alternatively known as the "Snyderverse" — Cavill himself actually kicked the whole enterprise off with 2013's Man of Steel. Directed by Zack Snyder, this pretty decent reimagining of Supes actually established Cavill as a worthy Man of Steel, but as the so-called Snyderverse wore on, things sort of fell apart. First, Cavill was out as Superman, then he was back, then he wasn't. It all culminated in what was a frankly bizarre crusade lead by "Black Adam" star Dwayne Johnson, to take control of the flailing DCEU and bring back Cavill as Superman. This ultimately failed, much to the chagrin of loyal Snyderverse fans, who seemed intent upon indefinitely preserving Snyder's shared universe.

So, when Reynolds makes his quip about Marvel treating Cavill better, it's this protracted Hollywood blunder to which he refers. All of which raises the question of how Snyder himself feels about it.

Since departing the DCEU, Zack Snyder has been busy delivering the similarly anticlimactic "Rebel Moon" saga, the first installment of which /Film's Jeremy Mathai summed up as "a one-note exercise in repetitiveness." Some might say that's a nifty way of summing up the director's more recent efforts to resurrect his vision for the DCEU with "Zack Snyder's Justice League," a fascinating if not entirely successful experiment that saw Henry Cavill return once again as Supes. It was after this 2021 effort that Cavill once again returned for his "Black Adam" cameo, announcing on his social media that he was "back" as Superman before "Black Adam" failed to change the hierarchy of profits in the DCEU and Warner Bros shuttered the whole thing for good.

With all that in mind, Ryan Reynolds' little joke about Marvel treating Cavill better than DC is more than warranted. But what does Snyder make of the whole thing? Well, The Hollywood Reporter asked him that very question, and though the director admitted he hasn't seen "Deadpool & Wolverine" yet, he did say it "sounds fun," before adding:

"Henry is an amazing Superman to me, obviously. I hired him. I wanted him to be Superman. So any coins left on the table are unfortunate, and in that way, it would be great to have more Henry. I always think you could have more Henry."

Quite the graceful and diplomatic response from Snyner, then, who evidently remains a fan of his "Man of Steel" star.

Henry Cavill has only addressed his "Deadpool & Wolverine" cameo via Instagram, where he posted a photo and claimed that he "shaved the moustache off for this one. Just the moustache." This is a reference to an infamous episode from the "Justice League" era whereby Cavill was required to appear in reshoots but wasn't allowed to shave his "Mission: Impossible — Fallout" mustache. This resulted in one of the most shoddy CGI jobs in blockbuster history, as no doubt harried VFX artists rushed to cover up the offending stash.

So, what are we, the audience, supposed to do in the face of this onslaught of sly self-referential humor and relentless callbacks? Is Cavill going to play a Marvel character in the near future? Is he the new Wolverine? Well, the whole thing certainly has the faint whiff of corporate market testing. The MCU fell victim to audience capture years ago, so if the fans want something, Kevin Feige and Disney are always going to listen — especially since their ode to fan service in "Deadpool & Wolverine" is currently smashing box office records. There was also a time when Cavill was being discussed among fans as a potential Wolverine actor, so it's not entirely outside the realms of possibility.

That said, it does seem unlikely Cavill will actually be playing Wolverine. Though there are rumors that the actor will join the MCU following Warner Bros.'s botching of his Superman run, there's been no official word on any of it. Meanwhile, Cavill is supposed to be working on his passion project: a series adaptation of "Warhammer 40,000." For now, we'll have to wait to see what transpires, though the more we talk about this the more Feige and co. will take the idea of "Cavillrine" seriously.