Exclusive: Henry Cavill Eyed For Hades In Hercules Live-Action Remake
Our sources tell us Disney wants Henry Cavill to play the villain Hades in the live-action Hercules movie.
We hate to be the bearers of bad news, Bruce Campbell, but it looks like your hopes of playing Hades have been dashed. According to our trusted and proven sources, Disney is instead hoping Henry Cavill will sign on to play the villain Hades in the upcoming live-action remake of Hercules. We don’t know yet about Cavill’s thoughts on the matter, but considering his recent departure from the roles of both Superman and Geralt of Rivia, he likely has a few holes in his schedule.
If you’re like us, you may be wondering if Henry Cavill has the singing chops to play Hades in Hercules, and on that score, we have some not-great news. As far as we can tell, the only time the Man of Steel star has come close to singing on screen is in 2005’s Hellraiser: Hellworld. As you can see below, he jokingly hums a few bars in the film.
The good news is that, considering the nature of the role, Henry Cavill may not even have to sing so much as a single note to play Hades in Hercules. James Woods voiced the villain in the 1997 animated film, and his version of Hades remains one of the few popular Disney villains in a musical without a truly memorable tune all of his own. The only time he sings is during “My Town,” and his “singing” during that number is along the lines of what we’re used to from William Shatner‘s musical career: basically just talking along to music and calling it singing.
Should Henry Cavill play Hades in Hercules, it will certainly be a departure from his high-profile roles. While it wouldn’t be his first time playing a villain in a big-budget film — he memorably plays an assassin gunning for Tom Cruise‘s Ethan Hunt in 2019’s Mission: Impossible – Fallout — it would be his first crack at a more cerebral, mastermind villain in such a flick. Considering the news that has surfaced about his career in the past few months, it could be just what the doctor ordered.
Shortly after he was believed to be returning to the role of Superman, Cavill’s imminent departure from Netflix’s The Witcher — to be replaced by Liam Hemsworth — was announced by Forbes and many other sources. It seemed like he had barely had the chance to get used to the idea of being Superman again before the appointment of James Gunn and Peter Safran as co-heads of DC Studios was followed with the confirmation that Cavill was out as Superman. For Henry Cavill to play a role like Hades of Hercules, something about as far removed from the more heroic roles of Kal-El and Geralt as possible, could be exactly what the star needs.
