4 Upcoming Henry Cavill Franchises After Leaving The Witcher & Superman

Cavill has lost two huge franchises, but after a streak of bad luck, the Superman actor has a number of potential franchises in the works.

Summary

• Henry Cavill still has potential upcoming projects that could become huge franchises after parting ways with Superman and The Witcher.
• Cavill's Highlander reboot, directed by Chad Stahelski, has the potential to become a blockbuster hit and have a huge franchise.
• Cavill's role in the upcoming spy movie Argylle has the potential to be his biggest post-DCU success and the start of a big-budget franchise for AppleTV+.

Henry Cavill has parted ways with two huge franchises, but the Superman actor still has a number of prospective upcoming projects that could become huge franchises of their own. Cavill is best known for playing Superman in the DCU, starting with his own Man of Steel. Following that, the actor starred in Batman v Superman: Dawn of Justice, Justice League, and Zack Snyder's Justice League. Even though Cavill had a cameo as Superman in Black Adam, once James Gunn took over DC and started DC Studios, it was clear that Cavill wasn't returning as Superman, and David Corenswet is replacing Cavill for 2025's Superman: Legacy.

Unfortunately, what unfolded with Netflix's The Witcher series was a similar story. Cavill parted ways with The Witcher partly due to creative differences, and the departure was even harder for fans to stomach. Cavill was a self-proclaimed fan of the source material, he seemingly knew the material better than anyone in the writers' room, and the series dropped in quality (The Witcher season 3 has a 19% audience score on Rotten Tomatoes). Given The Witcher's negative reception, it seems as if Netflix will suffer more than Cavill, as the actor still has a number of projects in the works that could become huge franchises.

4 Highlander

The original 1986 Highlander is a sci-fi fantasy about a Celtic warrior, who was part of an ancient immortal race that has battled each other for centuries. That battle only ends when one of them is left alive, and the movie is most famous for the quote: "There can only be one." The original film subtly began a long-running franchise. While they were direct-to-video releases, Highlander had three sequels and an animated movie. If the reboot was made with a big budget and Cavill as the lead Celtic warrior in Highlander, it could become a blockbuster hit and have huge franchise potential.

Cavill's Highlander reboot's development timeline dates back 10 years, however, there's been more movement with the reboot recently. Chad Stahelski, who directed all four John Wick movies, is attached to direct the movie. Given that the filmmaker became better at world-building with each consecutive John Wick release, there's no better director to helm Cavill's Highlander reboot. Not only that but Stahelski can apply his unique fight choreography to the epic fantasy film too. Cavill has been attached to the project since 2021, but there's still no release date. However, given that John Wick: Chapter 4 is in the rear-view mirror, there's some space in Stahelski's schedule.

3 Argylle

Argylle is an upcoming action spy movie from director Matthew Vaughn, who previously directed Kick-Ass, X-Men: First Class, and the Kingsman movies. Led by Cavill, the movie has an ensemble cast including Sam Rockwell, Bryce Dallas Howard, John Cena, and Bryan Cranston. The actor plays a world-class spy with amnesia, who is tricked into believing that he's actually a best-selling novelist. As he slowly regains his memory, the spy tracks down The Division, the organization he used to work for. While Argylle will be released theatrically, it is produced by AppleTV+, and it has the potential to be the streamer's first big-budget franchise.

Apple has been candid about its plans too, as Argylle is planned to be the first of "at least" a trilogy of films (via Deadline). Though there's no knowing how the movie will turn out or how it will be received, Vaughn is a master at starting franchises. Kick-Ass spawned a sequel, X-Men: First Class's success led to the revitalized X-Men franchise, and the Kingsman series is now three movies deep. In that respect, it's extremely likely that Argylle could be Cavill's biggest post-DCU success. Argylle will be released in theaters in February 2024, followed by an AppleTV+ release at an unknown date.

2 Warhammer 40,000

Warhammer 40,000 is a miniature wargame developed by Games Workshop, where players enact battles with miniature models of warriors and vehicles on a tabletop battlefield. The Warhammer 40,000 world is set in the distant future where human civilization has become stagnant and tormented by aliens and supernatural creatures. There is so much lore to the series, as the game's fictional setting has been expanded upon through countless official novels. Given how expansive the tabletop game is, it has the potential to become one of the biggest movie franchises. The universe could even connect to a Warhammer Fantasy series, which is an earlier game also developed by Games Workshop.

A Cavill-starring Warhammer 40,000 TV show is in development with Amazon Studios. Along with starring in the first movie in the upcoming franchise, Cavil will also serve as an executive producer and work on building a Warhammer 40,000 universe, as Vertigo and Cavill acquired the rights before taking it to Amazon (via THR). Cavill totally invests his time into the source material of whatever project he's working on, so it was an ingenious decision by Vertigo Entertainment to make Cavill a producer. Following the creative conflicts Cavill had with Netflix over The Witcher, having creative input in the series is undoubtedly a relief for the actor.

1 The Ministry Of Ungentlemanly Warfare

The Ministry of Ungentlemanly Warfare is the upcoming movie from Guy Ritchie, who is known for his comedy action films (such as Snatch and The Gentlemen). Henry Cavill plays the lead character in the upcoming film, which is another spy movie about a secret British organization during World War II, the Special Operations Executive. The organization was also dubbed as "Churchill's Secret Warriors." The movie stars Henry Golding and Alan Ritchson too, and while there haven't been any discussions about turning The Ministry of Ungentlemanly Warfare into a series, the movie has the potential to become serious franchise material.

Ritchie has turned several of his projects into franchises, as the blockbuster Sherlock Holmes movies have grossed over $1 billion combined (via The Numbers), and The Gentlemen is getting a TV series. Though the movie didn't earn enough money to warrant a sequel, The Man from U.N.C.L.E., which also stars Cavill, has a dedicated fanbase that wants The Man from U.N.C.L.E. 2. Given that they're both spy movies, turning The Ministry of Ungentlemanly Warfare into a franchise could make up for that. The World War II movie lends itself to multiple sequels, as each film could focus on a different Special Operations Executive mission led by Henry Cavill.

Sources: Rotten Tomatoes, Deadline, The Hollywood Reporter, The Numbers