Of all of the stars in the DCEU, Henry Cavill (The Tudors) has been around the longest. As such, he has a good idea of what worked and what didn’t along the way.

During a recent interview with The Rake Magazine (via CBM), the actor said that the studio’s approach to character development (his own in particular) hasn’t been without risk. He added that he didn’t feel that the risk paid off in the end, because although the movies were box office hits, they didn't connect with the audience.

The actor did say that he believed that the studio learned from its past mistakes, and Wonder Woman was the first sign that the time spent struggling to find a path was at an end. In other words, Patty Jenkins and Gal Gadot may have ended the DC Extended Universe’s growing pains with their phenomenal movie:

Even if Marvel didn't exist, we'd struggle. There was a style they [DC] were going for, an attempt to be different and look at things from a slightly different perspective, which hasn't necessarily worked. Yes, it has made money but it has not been a critical success; it hasn't given everyone that sensation which superheroes should give the viewer.

I think it is a wonderful time for the female hero. It is the perfect setting in social politics right now. We need it, we want that perspective. And Wonder Woman has struck at the ideal time, and has become a phenomenal success, which is fantastic. Any success within the superhero universe, especially within the DC Universe, is wonderful, because I want to keep telling the Superman story; selfishly, that works for me.

I feel like now the right mistakes have been made, and they haven't been pandered [to], and we can start telling the stories in the way they need to be told. It is even better to come back from a mistake or stylistic error into the correct vein, because it will make it seem that much stronger. Wonder Woman was the first step in the right direction.