Henry Cavill's brutal 5,000 calorie a day diet to become Superman as he prepares for Warhammer 40,000

What does it take to become Superman? A lot of calories and a whole lot of working out.

British actor Henry Cavill played the iconic superhero across four films, starring in 2013's Man of Steel, Batman v Superman: Dawn of Justice alongside Ben Affleck in 2016 and in the Justice League a year later.

Cavill's final appearance as Superman came in a cameo in Black Adam in 2022 but he's since given up the cape and is looking forward to his dream role in the upcoming Warhammer 40,000 series.

No doubt he'll be getting into even better shape than his usual disposition for the part, but it'd be surprising if it was as brutal as what he went through for Superman.

Ahead of starring as the Kryptonian for the first time, he detailed the heavy-duty diet he was on to ensure he physically embodied the role.

“I’m on 5,000 calories a day,” he told Total Film magazine back in 2011. “You’ve got to eat protein first, then a little bit of carbs... you’ve gotta keep your hunger levels going.

That's double the NHS' recommended daily intake for an average adult man of 2,500 calories, Yet, somehow, Erling Haaland has him beat as the newly-shaved Manchester City hitman consumes a gigantic 6,000 calories a day.

But it wasn't only a lot of eating that Cavill had to do, as he had to make sure all those calories went to his muscles instead of his gut.

He continued: “I’m training two and a half hours a day, pushing my body beyond its normal limits, putting on a lot of muscle mass and just making myself look like Superman.

"It’s extremely cool. There’s no other feeling like it.

“I turned around and look[ed] in the mirror and you can’t really play it cool — you sort of guffaw and laugh. I thought ‘Ok, holy hell, this is real, it’s not a joke anymore.”

Henry Cavill and his Warhammer 40,000 dream role

Cavill has been an avid fan of Warhammer - a tabletop boardgame with a fantasy flavour - since he was 10 years old, and now he's working to bring it to life.

Working alongside acclaimed horror director Mile Flanagan, the man behind The Haunting of Hill House, Cavill is producing a Warhammer 40,000 series for Prime Video.

He will be starring in it too, though his character has not yet been revealed.

"We have already been working with [Flanagan] to craft the creative, and we're making some considerable advances in story," Cavill wrote on Instagram. "Importantly, some of you have been asking if I will still be starring in the lead role in the live action TV series—rest assured, I most certainly will! Who that character is, however, shall remain a secret for now!"