2021’s Zack Snyder’s Justice League was unsurprisingly a sizeable step up from the one that initially hit theatres in 2017, arguably the biggest letdown from the DCEU. From the change in direction amidst filming to major reshoots, for the theatrical release, WB eventually settled to do the most efficient thing in such circumstances, making the movie short.
But despite being nearly half of Snyder’s vision, 2017’s Justice League didn’t take long to drop the ball by throwing Henry Cavill’s horribly CGi-ed mustache in the opening minutes.
It Cost WB a Whopping $25M for the Shoddy Work on Henry Cavill’s Mustache
It can’t be overstated how problematic the production of Justice League was. From the personal tragedy that struck Snyder to Joss Whedon’s failed attempt to salvage the ship, it was a complete disaster from start to finish. And nothing sums it up better than Henry Cavill‘s Superman in the movie, whose mustache was haphazardly removed in the post, and the result was less than stellar. Unfortunately, it wasn’t only the opening, as subsequent scenes involving Cavill had the same issue, which surprisingly cost WB an astonishing $25M per Variety.
This reasonably left fans started, as they expressed it’d have been better if WB went with a bearded Superman instead of the one we got in the theatrical release.
What’s funnier is that Superman has had a beard in the comics. So, there would’ve been a precedence for it.
— Dan Marcus (@Danimalish) January 1, 2024
We were so close to this, it's not even funny pic.twitter.com/yMz2SrbYdJ
— Dsha (@ItzKrism) January 2, 2024
In fact that’s what people wanted
— Ryan (@ryan80jones) January 2, 2024
He woke up in the comics with a mullet. Why couldn’t he have a beard in. JL is beyond me.
— Dorian Storm Apologist (@dorianstormfan1) January 2, 2024
The beard makes so much more sense
— Drek (@drek77107) January 2, 2024
Considering a bearded resurrected Superman wasn’t out of the ordinary in the comics, it’d have been undoubtedly a far better alternative than the one we witnessed back in the theatres in 2017.
Zack Snyder Was Glad It Wasn’t the Last of Henry Cavill as Superman
While Zack Snyder never saw the 2017 version of the movie, he did witness the shoddily edited lips on Henry Cavill’s face, which was a result of Paramount’s refusal to let Cavill shave. And although it was funny to the ZSJL director, he did feel happy about the fact that it wasn’t the last of Henry Cavill’s Superman, which would’ve been a tragic way to go out.
In an interview with MTV News, the Rebel Moon director commented:
“I’ve only seen it in memes, you know, it was funny, because you know, part of me is happy that we were able to have that not be the total legacy of the hard work that he had done in the last 10 years.It’s sad to think that, that would’ve been the last view that people had of Superman was that, whatever that is.”
With the DC universe heading toward a brighter future under James Gunn’s leadership, the poorly edited-out mustache remains a relic from the struggling DCEU that never really found its footing.
Zack Snyder’s Justice League is available to stream on Max.
