“Principle” is one of the easiest moral currencies to counterfeit, especially in media. Anyone can write a heroic character who always makes the right decisions, who conquers impossible odds, who rescues the virtuous damsel and defeats the villain. The classic hero has a chiseled jaw, an impressive physique, an infinite amount of charisma and an inhuman drive to succeed without compromise. It’s easy to write a hero, but being a hero is significantly more complicated.

The focus of today’s post is Henry Cavill. Most of you know him as Superman. Some of you know him as Geralt of Rivia. Even a few of you might remember him as Theseus from Immortals or Napoleon Solo in The Man from U.N.C.L.E. I was first introduced to him in a different role, but I’ll get to that in a minute.

Cavill’s first encounter with Hollywood started when Russell Crowe visited his school’s campus to film the movie Proof of Life. Through their interaction, Cavill was bit by the theatrical bug and would eventually pursue a career as an actor. For a time, Cavill was deemed the most unlucky actor in Hollywood for being the runner up in casting choices, including the role of Cedric Diggory in Harry Potter and the one and only Bond, James Bond. He landed a few decent roles that allowed him to refine his acting style, but his career really took off when he was cast as Charles Brandon in The Tudors TV show. Originally, his character was supposed to have a minor role and only appear in a few episodes, but Cavill’s performance was so exceptional that the producers extended his contract and made his character integral to the story, having him appear in every episode during the show’s runtime. Cavill’s real test was lying in wait for his role in Immortals, which began his physical conditioning lifestyle that has stuck with him ever since. Just two years later, Cavill would don the red cape for the first time, but not after almost missing the casting call from Zack Snyder because he was in the middle of a World of Warcraft session. His career would even lead him to star alongside Tom Cruise in one of the best Mission Impossible movies to date. Fans loved Cavill’s passion for nerd culture and fantasy, which led to him uncovering his darkest secret; Warhammer. Cavill, being a true nerd at heart, would eventually stumble upon a video game called The Witcher, and from there he discovered The Witcher novels written by Andrej Sapkowski. Cavill fell in love with Geralt of Rivia, and would eventually pursue this dream role until he landed on the set of Netflix’s The Witcher.

Doesn’t sound so bad, does it?

The first season of The Witcher released to mixed reviews. Critics were generally confused by convoluted timelines, hardcore fans were somewhat let down by the lack of adequate screen time for the main hero, and certain side characters were mysteriously given multiple spotlights and storylines that weren’t included in the novels. Perhaps the writers wanted to fill in some gaps in the season with backstories and context for integral characters? The costumes gave rise to legitimate concerns (if you know, you know), the sets appeared mediocre at best, the visual effects were either brutally effective or horrendously painful, and the dialogue felt like the original Polish text was dry cleaned through Google translate. One could only hope that Geralt would find his footing in the next season and be given more screen time to shine. Relatively speaking, most viewers who were fans of the games and books remained optimistic for the second season.

Oh… “dear friend” indeed.

Episode by episode, season two began to stockpile their list of sins. Stories dedicated to the moralistic grey of The Witcher world were reduced to simplistic “men are bad” resolutions. Characters were given entire arcs that were a complete fabrication from the writers and held no logical connections to the lore. The younger witchers were depicted as expendable, frat party meatheads rather than mutated monster slayers with superhuman skill, and their leader was portrayed as a shortsighted fool. The entire season was dedicated to a political intrigue plotline full of social justice clichés, a cabin with chicken legs and… an elven baby. The writers had attempted to make jokes about Geralt’s horse dying in an episode, but Cavill petitioned them to change it and eventually wrote his own dialogue for the scene. Cavill would appear in interviews to express his love for The Witcher books and the games created in that universe, pointing new fans to the source material and reassuring old fans of his reverence for Sapkowski’s world and Geralt’s true character. What fans saw on screen was a completely different picture than what they were expecting, and unfortunately Cavill was powerless to the whims of the showrunner. The dialogue would reference criticisms of the first season, or include Easter eggs from the original stories as if to appease the audience, but all of these efforts fell flat.

And again, the parade of parlor tricks sang the same chorus. The showrunner promised a “stronger adherence to the source material next season” but the good faith of the fans was already spent. Cavill would go on to film season three, but once post production began, Cavill took the stage at a convention towards the end of October of last year, and said: “If you believe what you’re doing is the right thing, then keep on doing it… If you realize you’re doing the wrong thing, that’s when you stop doing the wrong thing. You don’t just keep on going ‘just because,’ because that leads down a dark path.” Three days later, Cavill announced his departure from The Witcher series.

Due to the cameo appearance in Black Adam, fans speculated if his departure from The Witcher was due to scheduling conflicts for potential Superman movies rumored to start production, but a month later those theories proved to be incorrect (thanks but no thanks, James Gunn). Cavill’s response to losing Superman was nothing but pure class, and his entire attitude towards serving the fans would earn him undying love and respect from millions. Cavill is also far from out of work. Amazon has seen fit to place him in an executive producer position AND be the lead actor in a Warhammer series, and like many of his fans, I’m eager to see what he has in store.

So what’s Cavill’s secret? How does someone with so many highs and lows successfully navigate the cinema-scape of modern day Hollywood, cancel culture and alleged “toxic” fandoms? How can Cavill keep earning respect from fans who, according to every other producer and executive in Hollywood, foam at the mouth while screaming misogynistic, racist slurs at a computer screen from their mother’s basement? Because Cavill, unlike most of Hollywood, is a hero who does not know how to be a victim. What some would see as “toxic” fandom, Cavill sees as a passionate audience eager for good stories and seeing their favorite characters treated with the respect they deserve. His end goal is to service the fans, not the other way around. Cavill does not look to his fans for validation because he IS a fan and has to answer to his own principles. He wants to see his favorite characters and stories play out just as perfectly as any other fan would, which makes him one of a kind in today’s industry. Cavill walked away from his dream role and passion project because he couldn’t participate in the mischaracterization of one of his heroes. He followed his principles and refused to compromise, which makes us all wonder if we would do the same.

When I first saw Henry Cavill in The Count of Monte Cristo, I knew that his first impression would stick with me every time I saw him from that point forward. He portrayed a fearless idealist with an overabundance of charisma and enthusiasm. Jim Caviezel gave a speech to him directly, and I believe he wasn’t speaking to his character, but to Henry himself;

“Life is a storm, my young friend. You will bask in the sunlight one moment, be shattered on the rocks the next. What makes you a man is what you do when that storm comes. You must look into that storm and shout as you did in Rome. Do your worst, for I will do mine! Then the fates will know you as we know you…”

As Henry Cavill, the hero.