When it comes to actors with multiple notable franchises under their belt, few can compete as well as Robert Pattinson and Henry Cavill. Pattinson played the doomed Hufflepuff Cedric Diggory in “Harry Potter and the Goblet of Fire,” and the glittering vampire dreamcatcher Edward Cullen in the “Twilight” films the scariest Batman of all time in “The Batman”, In doing so, he achieved a major franchise hat trick. Cavill has now played Superman in Zack Snyder’s DC films, August Walker in Mission: Impossible – Fallout, and Geralt of Rivia in the Netflix series The Witcher, and has done so a cameo appearance as a version of Wolverine in Deadpool & Wolverine. (And that’s not counting the fact that he also played Sherlock Holmes in Netflix’s “Enola Holmes” films and appeared in a “Hellraiser” sequel!) Both men, despite their very different approaches to acting and the Fame brings serious star power, and it turns out that Pattinson once landed two different roles that might otherwise have gone to Cavill.
Just hearing that the two were potentially up for the same franchise roles makes you wonder how they would fare in each other’s shoes (Pattinson could possibly make a Geralt a killer, but Superman? He never could.) As funny as that is, in reality the two were both young actors and in the end Pattinson was exactly right for the role. But in another universe? We almost saw Henry Cavill as both Edward and Cedric.
Pattinson was chosen over Cavill for Harry Potter and Twilight
According to old blog posts by “Twilight” author Stephanie Meyer, unearthed by the “Happy Sad Confused” podcast (via GQ UK) in a conversation with Cavill, the author originally wanted Cavill to portray the film adaptation of Edward Cullen, but when he reached the ripe old age of 24, he dropped out of the running as a potential Sparklepire.
In her July 2007 blog posts, Meyer laments that Cavill is aging because she couldn’t imagine an Edward over the age of 21, saying, “The most disappointing thing for me is losing my perfect Edward. Henry Cavill is now 24 years old. Let us have a moment of silence to mourn…” A few months later, Pattinson, who had just passed the age limit, was announced as Edward. Meyer also liked the idea that Cavill would play Carlisle Cullen, the adoptive father of the Cullen vampire clan, a role that ultimately went to “Nurse Jackie” star Peter Facinelli. Maybe he’ll get the chance to play a Cullen proposed (and perhaps ill-advised) “Twilight” revival. Luckily, there doesn’t seem to be any bad blood between Cavill and Pattinson, as Cavill explained:
“I didn’t know they wanted to cast me, and the internet wasn’t quite the tool it is now, so I didn’t find out until afterwards. I thought, ‘Oh, okay, that would have been cool.'”
Cavill also auditioned for the role of Cedric Diggory in Harry Potter, but Pattinson’s audition was apparently a little more magicalbecause the role went to him. Since he was apparently set to play Superman in James Gunn’s DCEU, Cavill joked that maybe there would be a fight between Batman and Superman in the future to settle the “rivalry,” but these days it looks like that won’t happen either .
Cavill and Pattinson’s franchise future
Cavill’s reign as Superman appears to be all but over David Corenswet puts on the cape for the foreseeable future of the DC Universe, and he’s also out and about as Geralt replaced for last season starring Thor’s talented little brother, Hunger Games star Liam Hemsworth. However, he’s still there for Enola Holmes 3, in which he reprises his role as the young detective’s famous father, and that’s what he is Working on a “Voltron” movie, a “Highlander” rebootand a “Warhammer 40,000” adaptation for Amazon. Cavill fans will apparently be fine as there are many big franchise projects on the way.
Since the end of his time as Edward, Pattinson has been leaning towards more arthouse and independent projects, trying to leave the youth franchise behind. The only major franchise in his future is the role of Bruce Wayne/Batman in “The Batman: Part II”. “planned for a release in 2026. Luckily it’s still around wild and strange performancesalso like the upcoming Bong Joon Ho film “Mickey 17”. Whether you’re interested in watching Cavill reload his guns and look good, or you’re interested in watching Pattinson weave through the countryside like a strange little gremlin, the future looks bright.
