Henry Cavill is Superman. And also Geralt of Rivia. I wanted to start there because it seems important to me. He is not an actor anymore. He is not just a hot guy who stars in the wet dreams of many. He is the actor who embodies, for the first time consistently after the death of Christopher Reeve, the fucking Superman.
Henry Cavill and Warhammer: our vision
We may like it or not (I hate Superman), but that he is an icon in many aspects is indisputable. He is THE superhero. By definition he has it all, the bastard, and that’s why I don’t like him. I am a fan of Batman because he plays in the same league (literally, the same League) having money as his only superpower. He is the opposite, completely. Where Superman is presented as a being of light, morally and physically perfect, that not even his bangs are disheveled, Batman is a dark character (the Dark Knight, they call him), with more shadows than lights, but who fights against his own demons and against those around him.
Perhaps the only thing they both have in common, apart from the cape, is that they have magnificent villains, up to the task. In the case of Superman, specifically, Lex Luthor is the perfect antagonist, because he doesn’t have superpowers either (apart from his means and his intelligence), because he doesn’t have, he doesn’t even have hair, a clear counterpoint to the super bangs; and yet there he is, waging war.
Anyways, I digress. All this came to mind that Superman is not just anyone. And by extension, neither does Henry Cavill.
That is why all this that is being seen on social networks is so important.
Henry Cavill, defender of Warhammer 40k
What I’m talking about? In case you haven’t heard, with the promotion of the second season of The Witcher , Henry Cavill has appeared alongside his co-stars in various media. And in the interviews he recurrently comes up (sometimes he brings up the subject, sometimes the interviewer brings it up) from Warhammer 40k.
Here are two videos:
Henry Cavill is becoming an advocate for Warhammer 40k in public media. This seems very important to me.
As I said at the time in this article , the fact that celebrities normalize our hobby has immense value. Because there’s still a lot of reluctance from non-geeks (let’s call them Muggles , if you will).
Without going any further, in the first video Graham Norton himself tries to laugh at Henry Cavill when he is explaining what his hobby consists of. But nobody laughs at Superman. Henry doesn’t like it, he doesn’t go along with it. “It’s Warhammer, Graham, not World of Warcraft.” As Vin Diesel did on one occasion when the same thing happened to him, and he defended that role-playing games are a wonderful hobby full of virtues. What’s more, Tom Holland tells him that he also wants to play, which sounds interesting. Does he say it as a joke? He doesn’t give the impression, and even if he did, he is a clear support for Henry.
In the second video, actress Freya Allan snickers when Henry replies that his hobby is Warhammer. There are those who interpret it as “this heavy is here again.” I rather interpret it as posturing, as someone else’s embarrassment, «look at this macho, who in his spare time paints little figures (instead of being f ****** or with me, which is what I would like )». In both cases, Henry’s attitude is worth twice as much to me. If he is heavy, for being heavy (who among us is not?) With something good . It’s good to be heavy with good things, right? As long as we don’t become burdensome. And if it is because of the embarrassment of others before freakism, because of the normality with which Henry tells it.
And again, unexpected support, the surprise comes when Joey Batey (Jaskier) tells him that he plays too, with necrons. Is it true, or is he a capote to his colleague? Does matters. The laughs are over. Of four actors, half, the boys more specifically (a pity that Anya Chalotra – Yennefer did not also jump), play Warhammer, and they say it openly, without their own or others’ shame, normally . It is not the only intervention that he has made in public media, for example during the confinement he already came out saying that he was dedicating himself to painting his custodes. As did many others.
Why is so important the relationship between Henry Cavill and Warhammer 40.000?
I’ve said it before. It is incredible but we are still the same, in the year 2021, almost 2022, for many this is “a toy for children”. As if that was bad. Or as if we couldn’t continue enjoying ourselves as children.
But it is not. Warhammer is a hobby with three legs (the lore , the miniatures and the game itself) which is richer in virtues for all ages. In fact, children are not exactly the target audience, being a grim dark universe plagued with horrors, a fairly complex game in terms of rules, and an increasingly expensive hobby. And if Henry Cavill, the fucking Superman, the man of steel, appears on TV saying that he is dedicated to it, I insist, with total normality , then perhaps many will raise their eyebrows thinking that they may be missing something very good. Others will raise the other eyebrow and think that he had to have some defect, of course, “often a jerk”, they will add with infinite envy not recognized for themselves. And others will not raise the eyebrow but the thumb, satisfied, to see a titan walking among us.
But… is there something else about Henry Cavill and Warhammer?
I will not succumb to the powerful temptation to play on the hopes of the fans. Buuuut…
We all know Eisenhorn is gearing up, in what may be Warhammer 40k’s true leap into the mainstream . And it doesn’t seem like a coincidence that a megastar like Henry Cavill is bragging about his hobby, openly. Games Workshop couldn’t hope for better publicity. Maybe, just maybe, he doesn’t expect it, but provokes it.
See we will see. Let no one get too excited yet (this is for you, Marina), but I do think it is possible that we will see Henry Cavill as part of the cast of actors who face the distant future in which there is only war.
Until we know, Henry Cavill has certainly raised a lot of points for me for his calm but firm defense of Warhammer 40k. As I said before, it is incredible that at this point we continue with these topics, with labels and with more or less veiled jokes. That’s why I still think I’m too old for this.
