Although DC's cinematic universe has been hugely popular at the box office, it has been less kindly received by critics. Wonder Woman was a hit with both fans and reviewers, but the likes of Batman v Superman: Dawn of Justice and Suicide Squad were met with much criticism. Now, Superman star Henry Cavill has spoken about the state of the DC universe and admitted that "mistakes" have been made.

In an interview with The Rake, Cavill said that DC's problems were more than just a comparison with superhero rivals Marvel. "Even if Marvel didn't exist, we'd struggle," he admitted. "There was a style [DC was] 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 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."

Cavill's comments follow those made recently by Wonder Woman star Gal Gadot, who expressed regret about the way her character's back story was handled in Batman v Superman. In that movie, it is suggested that Wonder Woman is returning to fight evil after a long time away from mankind, which doesn't really match up with the way the character is portrayed in the subsequent standalone movie.

"None of us knew exactly, exactly, the back story of Wonder Woman," she said, via Comicbook.com. "And once they decided to shoot the solo movie for Wonder Woman and we started to dig in to understand the core of this character, we realized that, actually, there is no way that Wonder Woman would ever give up on mankind.

"Sometimes in a creative process, you establish something that is not necessarily the right decision, but then you can always correct it and change it. So Wonder Woman will always be there, as far as she's concerned, for mankind."

Both Cavill and Gadot are set to appear in Justice League, which is released next month. The movie is on course for a big opening weekend at the box office, with early tracking suggesting a $110-$120 million debut. That number would rank it above Wonder Woman, which opened to $103.2 million, but below both Batman v Superman and Suicide Squad.