For more than half a century at this point, the influence of comic book characters has been felt all over the globe through pop culture, the most prominent among them being the popularity of Superman. And with the most recent depiction of the Symbol of Hope by Henry Cavill, he has pushed the legacy even further toward greatness.

But before Cavill donned the cape, the Late Christopher Reeve was the face of Superman, immortalized by his performance in the original Superman film series. Thus, when Man of Steel was released in theatres, fans couldn’t help but notice one scene where Cavill’s face changed to resemble Reeve’s. And when asked if this was an homage to the Late actor, Zack Snyder said it wasn’t meant to be.

Henry Cavill’s Face Did Not Intentionally Change To Christopher Reeve’s In Man Of Steel

While he may not be the face of the Symbol of Hope anymore in the new DCU, everyone still remembers Henry Cavill for his role as Superman in the DCEU. But just as much as him, people also cherish the memory of Christopher Reeve as the superhero, the man who arguably made the character so popular in cinema today.

Thus, when people thought they saw Reeve’s visage in 2013’s Man of Steel during the World Engine destruction scene, they thought director Zack Snyder put it there on purpose.

During the scene where Superman flies up towards the World Engine in an attempt to stop it from destroying the world any further, in between the blasts of energy, we can see the Mission; Impossible star’s face being morphed due to it. In one of those frames, fans spotted his face turn completely into that of Reeve.

While fans thought this was an homage to the actor’s legacy, in an interview (via ComicBook) Snyder revealed that this wasn’t an intentional action by him, but instead, just something that coincidentally happened during the shoot. He said:

“Fan theory. It doesn’t exist; it’s just looks like that. If it looks like that, that’s the gods, not me.”

May it be just a coincidence or divine interference, that one shot made the impactful scene even more surreal with the memory of the Late star’s legacy with the character.

What’s Next For Superman?

With the dismantling of the old franchise, there comes the new DCU that is created on the vision of DC Films CEOs James Gunn and Peter Safran. And along with it, comes a new Superman.

It was officially revealed earlier this year that the upcoming Superman: Legacy is all set to introduce David Corenswet as the new face of the Symbol of Hope in the franchise going forward. Along with that, it was also reported that the proposed release date of the aforementioned project has not been derailed from its original schedule, which means fans just have to wait a little more.

Man of Steel, streaming on Max.