British actor Henry Cavill has arrayed a wide range of roles in his screen career, but to the average moviegoer, he is probably best known as the most recent Superman in the four DC Comics films under the tutelage of Zack Synder. Despite his obvious physical strengths, Cavill’s performances in the dual roles of Clark Kent and the “Man of Steel” are considered by many to be more character-based than in other editions that reflects his priorities as an actor.
In fact, Cavill has taken on a number of other iconic characters in his career, from Sherlock Holmes in two “Enola Holmes” films, superspy Napoleon Solo in “The Man From U.N.C.L.E.” and even the mythological Theseus in “Immortals.” And while he usually portrays heroes, he’s not afraid of being a bad guy now and then, most notably as Tom Cruise’s nemesis in “Mission: Impossible – Fallout.”
Now that he is about to hang up his cape as Superman and go on to take on new acting challenges, let’s raise a glass by ranking and counting down his 11 greatest films from worst to best.
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11. IMMORTALS (2011)
Image Credit: Courtesy Image Director: Tarsem.
Writers: Charles Parlapanides, Vlas Parlapanides.
Starring Henry Cavill, Stephen Dorff, Luke Evans, Isabel Lucas, Freida Pinto, Mickey Rourke.
The producing team behind “Immortals” also produced Zack Snyder’s successful “300,” and it shows, from the film’s desaturated color palette to its bellowing bare-chested heroes. “Immortals,” however, shifts the action from the fictionalized history of the earlier film to the arena of Greek mythology, as Cavill’s Theseus, a mortal chosen by Zeus, takes on the forces of evil. Cavill’s physical strengths serve him well here, and his acting skills suggest a surprising depth of feeling to his character.
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10. THE COLD LIGHT OF DAY (2012)
Image Credit: Courtesy of Summit Entertainment Director: Mabrouk el Mechri.
Writers: Scott Wiper, John Petro.
Starring Henry Cavill, Sigourney Weaver, Bruce Willis, Verónica Echegui.
In this action thriller directed by Mabrouk El Mechri, Cavill stars as WIll Shaw, a destitute businessman whose family is being held hostage by foreign agents who are searching for a briefcase stolen by his father (Bruce Willis), Will, of course, will stop at nothing to get them back. The film, which was unfavorably compared to the Liam Neeson “Taken” series by many critics, nonetheless gave Cavill a chance to impressively flex his leading-man action muscles. -
9. STARDUST (2007)
Image Credit: Courtesy of Paramount Pictures Director: Matthew Vaughn.
Writers: Jane Goldman, Matthew Vaughn.
Starring Claire Danes, Charlie Cox, Michelle Pfeiffer, Robert De Niro, Mark Strong, Sienna Miller, Henry Cavill, Peter O’Toole.
Cavill’s first collaboration with director Matthew Vaughn is in this romantic fantasy set in a magical English kingdom where young Tristan (Charlie Cox) seeks to impress his girlfriend Victoria (Sienna Miller) by retrieving a fallen star. When he returns, he sees that Victoria is being wooed by her twit of a bodyguard Humphrey (Cavill), who is ready to propose and eager to fight Tristan with his smallish sword. It’s a light antagonist role which Cavill skillfully nails.
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8. THE COUNT OF MONTE CRISTO (2002)
Image Credit: Courtesy Image Director: Kevin Reynolds.
Writer: Jay Wolpert, from the novel by Alexandre Dumas.
Starring Jim Caviezel, Guy Pearce, Richard Harris, Dagmara Domińczyk, Michael Wincott, Henry Cavill.
Cavill first made his first impact with international audiences at age 19 as Albert Mondego in Kevin Reynolds’ film version of the classic Alexandre Dumas novel. Albert, who is thought to be the son of the duplicitous Fernand Mondego (Guy Pearce) is actually the result of an affair his mother had with the heroic Edmund Dantès (Jim Caviezel), the Count of Monte Cristo. As Albert, Cavill looks very much like a hero-in-training, and despite his relative inexperience in film acting, he displays a certain star presence here that will prove to serve him well in the years ahead.
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7. WHATEVER WORKS (2009)
Image Credit: Courtesy of Sony Pictures Classics Writer/Director: Woody Allen.
Starring Larry David, Evan Rachel Wood, Patricia Clarkson, Ed Begley Jr., Conleth Hill, Henry Cavill, Michael McKean, John Gallagher Jr.
Cavill is utterly charming in this Woody Allen rom-com as Randy Lee James, who falls head over heels in love with Southern runaway Melody Celestine (Evan Rachel Wood) who is stuck in a marriage with misanthropic chess teacher Boris Yelnikoff (Larry David). Despite Melody’s resistance to Randy’s romantic overtures, she eventually falls in love with him as well. It’s refreshing to see Cavill, who is so often seen in intense period or fantasy roles, being able to chill in a contemporary setting.
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6. ARGYLLE (2024)
Image Credit: Courtesy of Universal Pictures Director: Matthew Vaughn.
Writer: Jason Fuchs.
Starring Henry Cavill, Bryce Dallas Howard, Bryan Cranston, Sam Rockwell, Catherine O’Hara, Dua Lipa, Ariana DeBose, John Cena, Samuel L. Jackson.
Cavill reunited with his “Stardust” director Matthew Vaughn in this spy send-up as Agent Argylle, the superspy creation of writer Elly Conway (Bryce Dallas Howard) and the leading character in her five “Argylle” novels. Yet Argylle is not entirely fictional either, as Elly soon finds out to her surprise. Cavill had a challenge in creating a character who had a foot in both worlds, and while the film received somewhat mixed reviews, Cavill’s stalwart spy was critically appreciated.
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5. THE MAN FROM U.N.C.L.E. (2015)
Image Credit: Courtesy Image Director: Guy Ritchie.
Writers: Guy Ritchie, Lionel Wigram, based on the television series.
Starring Henry Cavill, Armie Hammer, Alicia Vikander, Elizabeth Debicki, Jared Harris, Hugh Grant.
Based on the 1960s television series that traded off the James Bond mania of the era, Guy Ritchie’s film pairs two supposed enemies — CIA agent Napoleon Solo (Cavill) and KGB agent Illya Kuryakin (Armie Hammer) — teaming up to stop two Nazi sympathizers from building their own nuclear weapon. So much of what made the TV series work was the chemistry between its two leads, and Cavill & Hammer certainly have it here, backed by the muscular direction of Ritchie.
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4. ENOLA HOLMES (2020-2022)
Image Credit: Alex Bailey/Netflix © 2022 Director: Harry Bradbeer.
Writer: Jack Thorne, from the novel by Nancy Springer.
Starring Millie Bobby Brown, Henry Cavill, Sam Claflin, Helene Bonham Carter.
Cavill took on another great literary icon, legendary sleuth Sherlock Holmes, in Harry Bradbeer’s comic mystery in which his feisty younger sister Enola (Millie Bobby Brown) meets Sherlock and older brother Mycroft (Sam Claflin) and stumbles into a mystery adventure of her own. The film garnered strong reviews, particularly for Brown and Cavill, who have a genteel sibling chemistry about them. The film’s popularity was such that a sequel, “Enola Holmes 2,” also starring Brown and Cavill, was soon made and released in 2022 with equal success.
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3. THE MINISTRY OF UNGENTLEMANLY WELFARE (2024)
Image Credit: Lionsgate Starring Henry Cavill, Eiza González, Alan Ritchson, Henry Golding, Alex Pettyfer, Cary Elwes.
With this film and “The Man From U.N.C.L.E.,” Cavill has found himself a home in the hyper-masculine films of director Guy Ritchie, but in “Ministry” he brings a playfulness to his performance than I have ever before seen from him. As the real-life hero Gus March-Phillipps, Cavill appears relaxed and actually having fun, whether it’s while he’s stealing cigars or happily gunning down a roomful of Nazis. His performance in “Ministry” marks a new approach to acting than the one for which Cavill has become known, and it’s a most welcome addition to his work.
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2. MISSION: IMPOSSIBLE — FALLOUT (2018)
Image Credit: Chiabella James Writer/Director: Christopher McQuarrie.
Starring Tom Cruise, Henry Cavill, Ving Rhames, Simon Pegg, Rebecca Ferguson, Angela Bassett, Vanessa Kirby, Michelle Monaghan, Alec Baldwin.
A mustachioed Cavill took a turn to the dark side as CIA assassin August Walker who takes on upright IMF agent Ethan Hunt (Tom Cruise) in “Fallout,” the sixth installment of the Cruise/”Mission: Impossible” film series. Cavill makes for a formidable antagnist in this critically-acclaimed sequel, which contains a four minute-long fistfight featuring Cavill and Cruise in a public bathroom that is considered by many critics to be among the best action set pieces of the past decade.
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1. As Clark Kent/Superman in the DC Comics Universe (2013-2021)
Image Credit: Courtesy Image Director: Zack Snyder.
Writers: Various.
Starring Henry Cavill, Amy Adams, Michael Shannon, Kevin Costner, Diane Lane, Laurence Fishburne, Christopher Meloni, Russell Crowe.
The third film actor (after Christopher Reeve and Brandon Routh) to play the Man of Steel, Cavill starred in that same-titled 2013 film and went on to play him again in 2016’s “Batman v Superman: Dawn of Justice” and both versions of Zack Snyder’s “Justice League” (2017, 2021). Cavill, the first non-American actor to play the part, brought a different take to the role, knowing that he must do what is right but being aware of his own vulnerabilities at the same time. With James Gunn taking over the Superman franchise from Snyder in 2025, Cavill will relinquish the cape to David Corenswet.
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