Mustachegate. We suspect it would be the biggest story of the year if it wasn't for the fact that 2017 has been so, well, 2017. To get everyone up to speed, Justice League had to undergo very costly reshoots late into a game. This caused a conflict with Superman actor Henry Cavill, who had an obligation to Mission: Impossible 6, a film where his character has a mustache. So due to scheduling and studio priorities, Henry Cavill would be mustachioed for the Justice League reshoots, necessitating that his facial hair be digitally removed later on. This story has understandably spawned more than its fair share of jokes and memes, and Cavill recently explained the process involved in making the Last Son of Krypton mustache free, saying:
It's nothing to cover it up. What we do is we try and pull it back from the top lip as much as possible, so they kind of wax it up, and then I have dots all over my face. And they try and put dots, which are barely visible, sort of in the various points on the face, which you would see them during normal --- not face replacement --- but whatever CGI aspect they may be applying to a face. And, yeah, I was covered in dots and had a big mustache. It was definitely a new look for Superman.
Speaking with Fox 5 DC, Henry Cavill seems to have taken it all in stride. But to be honest, this sounds like a huge hassle. I guess that's the cost of the poor guy starring in two blockbuster franchises. You would think the studios could have worked out a deal to pay for a great fake mustache, but apparently that was not an option. Luckily for Justice League, we live in modern times with technology that can provide a digital shave whenever the need arises. With everything that is riding on this movie, I have every confidence that the CGI will be seamless. I doubt you will be able to tell in which scenes Superman has a computer-generated upper lip.
It has been obvious since the end of Batman v Superman: Dawn of Justice that Superman would return in some form for the long-awaited superhero team-up movie. Superman is important to the story, and his return could provide a unique obstacle for the other heroes. He hasn't been featured in any of the Justice League trailers or promotional materials so far outside of posters and a brief Clark Kent dream sequence cameo, so let's hope that Warner Bros. plays this close to the chest and keeps the nature of Superman's return a secret until people can see the film.
You can see Henry Cavill in Justice League in theaters on November 17. Stay tuned to CinemaBlend for all the latest in facial hair film news, and you can pre-order your tickets for Justice League now.
