Henry Cavill Is A Bigger Lord Of The Rings Nerd Than You Think

It's no secret that Henry Cavill is a big fantasy buff. For instance, the former Geralt actor is more of an enthusiast than most Witcher fans, and he's also been working on Amazon Prime's Warhammer 40,000 adaptation. Once again, Cavill is a full-fledged fan of the franchise and even expressed concern about the upcoming project, stating, "It needs to be handled to a 'Lord of the Rings' level. And if it's not, I'll be massively disappointed."

It turns out that Cavill's reference to the one fantasy world to rule them all isn't a lightly made comparison, either. The man loves Middle-earth so much that he's named his dog after one of Tolkien's most beloved families. The ex-Superman actor appeared on Josh Horowitz's Inside of You podcast alongside director Matthew Vaughn, as part of the press push for 2024's "Argylle." During the interview, the host asked how the pair felt about cats or dogs. Both replied that they were in the canine camp, prompting Horowitz to follow up on a recent addition to Cavill's four-legged family.

"By the way," the host inquired, "so it's Kal and Baggins now, too, right?" "Yes. Baggins in the new addition," Cavill replied, adding, "because where we live is particularly Shire-esque, we felt it suitable that our little creature would be called Baggins."

When Vaughn asked if that meant Cavill would get a Bilbo too, the actor's response was in the negative. He reserves the Hobbit-ish name for smaller pups, and planned on getting a bigger dog next. Still, the fact that the fantasy actor and fan would prioritize Middle-earth's First Hobbit Family as the name for one of his dogs shows just how much love he has for Tolkien's classic fantasy world.

Henry Cavill's willingness to connect his pets to his fantasy acting doesn't stop with their names. In the past, he's gone on record as to how they play a key role in the way he handles his relationship with animals on screen, too. In an interview in 2021, Cavill shared that his close bond with his dog Kal was a key factor in helping him make a connection with Geralt's horse Roach — or, more specifically, the two horses named Zeus and Hector who played the on-screen equine.

"Kal and I have a very close bond," he explained, adding that when you spend that much time with an animal, "You develop a very, very close relationship with them, and you start to understand their body languages, and their energies and things which other people don't see, you notice in your own dog."

Cavill has always shared a close bond with animals. So close that his family thought his original calling was to be a veterinarian. At one point, Kal even came with Cavill to the set of "The Witcher." There's no news of Baggins filling that same role for any future project. However, there are plenty of Middle-earth media projects in the works at the moment. If Cavill were to land a role in one of these new "Lord of the Rings" storylines, Baggins could be the perfect way to help him connect with both the talking and non-verbal animals in Tolkien's world.

Henry Cavill may not have shown up in Middle-earth yet. But the stars may be aligning for him to arrive there at some point. In fact, he has an interesting connection to one of the biggest Tolkien projects — one of the directors of "The Lord of the Rings: The Rings of Power," Charlotte Brändström, also helmed two episodes of Season 1 of "The Witcher" back in 2019. 

In fact, Cavill's followers have been busy fan-casting the fantasy icon as a variety of Tolkien characters. Some are fun call-backs to Jackson's original trilogy, like having him fill in for Viggo Mortensen's Aragorn, Karl Urban's Éomer, or Orlando Bloom's Legolas.

Of course, as of this writing, all of this is just wishful thinking. The actor undoubtedly has his hands full with multiple upcoming fantasy adaptations, including "Warhammer 40K" and "Highlander." Perhaps once the dust settles from those fantastical forays, Cavill can find his way into Middle-earth — and if he does, he'll have his very own Baggins to support him every step of the way.