Henry Cavill finally shares his thoughts on Batman V Superman: Dawn of Justice‘s mixed reception. Zack Snyder’s 2016 film officially launched Warner Bros.’s DC film universe. While the movie was commercially successful, grossing $873.2 million at the worldwide box office against an estimated production budget of $250 million, its success was bogged down by its unyielding negative reception. It’s fair to say that Batman V Superman has become one of the most divisive films in modern cinema history.


The blockbuster movie saw Superman – with Cavill reprising his role from Snyder’s 2013 film, Man of Steel – face off against his fellow DC superhero, Batman (Ben Affleck), with Wonder Woman (Gal Gadot) later joining the fold to aid the duo in battling the supervillain Doomsday. Batman V Superman, for various reasons, was a critical failure, though its Ultimate Cut – which added an additional 30 minutes of footage – was much more well-received. The film’s quality is still being discussed and debated almost two years later, and Cavill has now shared his thoughts on the movie’s divisiveness

In an interview with Fox 5 DC for Snyder’s upcoming DC Comics movie, Justice League, Cavill referred to Batman V Superman as “niche” and says it’s understandable for some people to like the movie and others to dislike it.


“I think it was, that movie is part of an arc for what Snyder’s vision was or is, and it’s also in my mind fairly niche, it’s a niche style of [a] movie within a genre. And it reflects in the audience reviews and critics reviews, it’s divisive. When anything is niche, it’s gonna be liked and loved by some, and disliked by others. That’s the whole point of niche, so, yeah.


Cavill’s comments about Batman V Superman being part of Snyder’s arc for the Kryptonian superhero – which began with Man of Steel and concludes with the hero’s resurrection in Justice League – is an impression that the film’s screenwriter, Chris Terrio, also shares. And while the movie being niche may certainly be true, it’s not something that filmmakers should strive for when making blockbuster superhero flicks, which are designed for general audiences as well as longtime fans of the source material.


Then again, that may be what they are trying to do for Justice League. After all, Cavill was recently asked about Snyder’s vision for Superman and how the director’s superhero movies differ from other superhero flicks, especially compared to Marvel Studios’ Marvel Cinematic Universe. The actor owned up to Batman V Superman being commercially but not critically successful, and he felt that they had made the “right mistakes” in getting to Justice League. Still, it’s hard not to wonder if Batman V Superman would have been received a more positive response if its Ultimate Cut was the version that released theatrically.