More details have emerged about the return of Henry Cavill’s Superman in the post-credits scene of “Black Adam” this weekend, this time about the logistics of filming the scene itself.
Cinematographer Lawrence Sher, speaking with THR’s Behind the Screen podcast, confirmed that negotiations came down to the wire and much of the scene was pre-shot without knowing if Cavill would return.
Sher says he was informed of the Superman idea very late into filming with director Jaume Collet-Serra describing it thus to him:
“Let’s just quickly take this throne room set that we were working in… We’re going to create something for Dwayne to walk into… And we’re going to shoot it in like 10 minutes.”
Thus, Johnson’s half of the scene was filmed as the final shot on the final day of additional photography.
Once done, the team put together the second half of the scene with a body double and a version of John Williams’ 1978 Superman theme found on Google – this version never showing the actor’s face, only the Superman emblem on his chest. Sher says:
“Watching an actor come out of a full silhouette into that, was actually goosebumps. ‘Wow, this is 100% going to work. Now they need to figure out if they can get the guy with the head to be there.'”
Testing on the film then began with that ‘headless Superman’ scene thrown in, and the reaction led to the need to secure Cavill:
“I went to a test screening … in which they did the version without his head … and it played gangbusters. Then it was like, ‘Now we got to get Henry.'”
Once the deal was done, Cavill’s half of the scene was filmed last month in London with Sher working remotely. Sher says even watching only through monitors, he could feel the impact:
“There are certain people that are iconic as the characters that they play, and he’s really one of them.”
Sher is currently getting ready to shoot “Joker: Folie à Deux” in around 5-6 weeks time in both sound stages in Los Angeles and on location in New York.
“Black Adam” is now playing in cinemas everywhere.
