Britain's Henry Cavill dons Superman's cape in 'Man of Steel'

IGNORING THE PAST

'Man of Steel' premieres in New York

Comic book franchises have been top draws in recent years with Nolan's three "Batman" films grossing more than $2 billion worldwide between 2005-2012, according to figures compiled by box-office tracker Boxofficemojo.com.

Walt Disney Co's Marvel studio has also scored box office hits with "The Avengers" and "Iron Man" franchises making more than $1 billion at the worldwide box office.

Straight-jawed with broad shoulders, the little-known Cavill strikes a resemblance to late Superman actor Christopher Reeve, who had success as Superman on the big screen, his four "Superman" films grossing more than $400 million at global box offices between 1978 and 1987.

Actors Dean Cain in "Lois & Clark: The New Adventures of Superman," and Tom Welling in the CW network's "Smallville" also built a career playing the hero.

Cavill said he intentionally ignored the influence of past Superman performances tugging at his cape. Instead, he focused on the original comic books as his source material, creating a database of notes on the superhero.

"(The notes) just kind of became a secondary character lurking there and I just drew from that," Cavill said.

"There's not really a word for it or any way to describe playing Superman," he added. "But it's just a feeling and you've got to just channel that into the character in just minute details unconsciously and instinctively."

Another pressure point among Superman's avid and loyal fan base that Cavill had to navigate was whether a Briton could handle playing the Krypton-born and Kansas-bred American hero.

"As long as I can do it convincingly, as long as I can play an American well enough, then I'm OK with that," Cavill said, drawing a comparison to the UK's beloved film franchise on super-spy James Bond.

"I wouldn't mind if an American played Bond, as long as he's good and played the role right," Cavill added.

This story is corrected with paragraph 2 date for "Immortals" to 2011 instead of 2001.