It’s been a busy few months for Henry Cavill: after seemingly breaking the Internet with a surprise cameo in Black Adam which saw him return to the blue suit and red cape beloved by Superman fans worldwide, he then announced that it wouldn’t be the last time we saw him as the superhero. Rather, he would be reprising his role as DCEU’s Clark Kent for another movie, one which would see him step aside from Netflix’s The Witcher series after season three.
For many, understandably this is big news, but perhaps more exciting is the fact that Cavill and director Guy Ritchie will reunite once again, this time for an upcoming World War II spy-action movie, The Ministry of Ungentlemanly Warfare which, simply by the sounds of cast and plot lines, already has global audiences intrigued.
If the project sounds familiar, it’s based on the non-fiction book of the same name by war correspondent and military historian, Damien Lewis. The story is one that follows a top-secret “butcher-and-bolt” black-ops unit Winston Churchill formed during World War II, which was tasked with stopping German forces by any means necessary.
Considered to be the world’s earliest “deniable” military attachment, this unit earned a reputation for themselves by striking behind enemy lines, something which often saw them subvert the “gentlemanly rules of engagement.” Through tactical means of deception, they emerged victorious in a number of meetings with the Nazis as they broke “all the accepted rules of warfare in the process,” even resorting to bow and arrow methods of combat.
And, as you would expect of a group recruited with the knowledge they would likely be killed, those involved in the unit were strong characters made up of colourful and quirky personalities (those that surely lend themselves to the screen). There were criminals, rogues and survivalists, all of whom were led by Gus March-Phillips, “a wild British eccentric of high birth” and Anders Lassen “an aristocratic, handsome, blood thirsty young Danish warrior.” The unit were regularly jacked up on amphetamines while orchestrating combat.
The official synopsis for the book reads: “When France fell to the Nazis in 1940, Churchill declared that Britain would resist the advance of the German army–alone if necessary. Churchill commanded the Special Operations Executive to secretly develop a very special kind of military unit that would operate on their own initiative deep behind enemy lines. The units would be licensed to kill, fully deniable by the British government, and a ruthless force to meet the advancing Germans.”
The upcoming film marks the second time Ritchie and Cavill have worked together, after first collaborating on The Man From U.N.C.L.E. which also happened to be a spy flick. For this latest endeavour, Cavill will star alongside Eiza Gonzalez of Baby Driver and the more recent Michael Bay blockbuster, Ambulance.
According to reports from Deadline, Henry Cavill will star as the secret division’s leader, which is likely an amalgamation of Gus March-Phillips and Anders Lassen. Meanwhile, Eiza Gonzalez will play a military sniper. Production on the film is set to commence in January 2023 on location in Turkey and while it will be some time before the film hits the screens, it sounds like another hit from the creative genius of Ritchie and Cavill.
