Henry Cavill Says Superman's Weakness Won't Be Kryptonite In Batman V Superman

By Daniel Kelly / August 14, 2015

Superman's a tough dude, but he's always had one famous fallibility. I'm talking Kryptonite, the radioactive ore from his home planet, capable of rendering him impotent in battle. Interestingly, Henry Cavill's suggested something else will prove his undoing in Batman V Superman: Dawn Of Justice:

"Superman is a complex dude. People think Kryptonite can beat him. No. The only thing that can really beat Superman is Superman. His own noggin messing with him. His own moral choices. When you have that to start with, the storytelling can really delve into something rich.€

This doesn't necessarily tell us anything new, so much as it confirms one of my big hopes for the film - that's there's gonna be mind-games galore. Kryptonite's a fun weapon to inform a plot or destabilise an action beat, but it's not as captivating as some really well written psychological warfare. From Cavill's quote we can ascertain that Superman's morals and sense of isolation are fertile plains for manipulation, a soft-spot for Bruce Wayne and Lex Luthor to take aim at. Maybe that's how they'll get him?

Everything we've seen and heard promises that the relationship between Batman and Superman will be complex and layered, with personal, polemic and moral dimensions to be considered. But the thought of a Superman marred by permanent self-doubt and mental woe is promising. After all, Kryptonite can be disposed of. Deep, tortured mental scarring is a lot harder to eradicate, and might make Superman more three dimensional heading into The Justice League. Batman V Superman is in cinemas on March 25, 2016.