The Entire Henry Cavill Superman Mustache Controversy Explained

Whether you agree with the decision or not, Henry Cavill has officially been ousted as Hollywood's Superman. Portraying the Man of Steel for nearly a decade, Cavill hung up the cape just two months after a post-credit appearance in Dwayne "The Rock" Johnson's "Black Adam" feature. The set-up for a sequel featuring Big Blue and Rock's new anti-hero failed to fit into the plans of DC's new studio heads James Gunn and Peter Safran, bringing Cavill's time as the Last Son of Krypton to an end after three feature films and the aforementioned uncredited cameo.

Unfortunately for Cavill, his flight as Superman was about as turbulent as it could be. Between mixed critical responses, an inconsistent creative vision, and instability behind the scenes, Cavill was on the frontlines of the failed experiment known as the DC Extended Universe. That position also placed him at the center of ridicule, particularly when the actor was caught in the middle of the controversy that the internet has lovingly dubbed "Mustache Gate" (via Esquire).

The short version of the facial hair saga involves one actor tossed between two studios and a fuzzy upper lip risking a significant continuity error for at least one big-budget studio film. However, the tale of the 'stache gets more complicated as more context and circumstances come to light. Now, with Cavill hanging up his superhero cape, it's time to sort out the controversy around his infamous mustache.

Since the first comic book appearance of Superman in 1938's "Action Comics" #1, the clean chin and upper lip have been a staple for the character's visage. Although there are examples of the Kryptonian disguising himself in fake mustaches and Santa beards, the clean cut is as much a part of Supes' costume as the big red and yellow "S" that he wears on his chest.

Unlike obscure DC Comics characters like Beard Hunter of "Doom Patrol," Clark Kent does have the ability to grow facial hair. "Superman" #139 from 1960 features an entire storyline around the effects of Red Kryptonite weakening Kal-El's powerful vision, resulting in his hair and fingernails growing far more than is appropriate for Kent's day job at the Daily Planet.

It's not that Superman can't grow a sweet 'stache, but rather that audiences change their opinion regarding the true-blue hero when he sports facial hair. Generally, Superman donning a beard insinuates that the bald-faced crimefighter has been absent for a period or aged considerably. Alternatively, as displayed in "Superman III," something as small as a five o'clock shadow can make Superman look like an evil version of himself. Appropriately, the clean cut helps to fortify Clark Kent as the responsible Boy Scout he traditionally represents.

Reportedly, the entire process of bringing the "Justice League" to life was tumultuous. Warner Bros. had struggled to finalize the project after first announcing a pre-DCEU version of the project in 2007 (per Variety). As production finally loomed in 2016, Zack Snyder's original proposal of a two-part film was ixnayed by the studio (per IGN). And even during filming, the backlash to the critically panned "Batman v Superman" resulted in substantial rewrites and changes in producers (per The Hollywood Reporter). Still, the most significant hit to the film occurred in postproduction, when Zack Snyder abandoned the project for family reasons.

The death of Snyder's daughter Autumn in March 2017 resulted in the director taking two weeks off from the film. And after attempting to return to work, he opted to completely step away from "Justice League" for understandable reasons. "In my mind, I thought it was a cathartic thing to go back to work, to just bury myself and see if that was the way through it," said Snyder in his announcement (via THR). "The demands of this job are pretty intense. It is all-consuming. And in the last two months, I've come to the realization; I've decided to take a step back from the movie to be with my family, be with my kids, who really need me."

In the wake of Zack Snyder's resignation from the big-budget superhero film, Warner Bros. and DC enlisted the directing experience of Joss Whedon, who had previously helmed Marvel's "Avengers" and "Avengers: Age of Ultron." With yet another creative mind in the "Justice League" foray, the studio agreed to two months and $25 million worth of reshoots -– a significant cost compared to the standard reshoot budget of $6 million to $10 million and a couple of weeks (per Variety).

Aside from the scheduling conflicts with the movie's stars, the studio had its own demands for the reshoots that would add to this growing monster called a film. First, the theatrical version of the movie was limited to a two-hour runtime, as insisted by Warner Bros. CEO Kevin Tsujihara (per The Wall Street Journal). More challenging, the release date of the movie was not moved from its tight November 2017 spot despite the multiple obstacles. Based on a report from The Wrap, Warner Bros. executives refused to consider any delays out of a fear of losing potential financial bonuses ahead of an upcoming merger with AT&T. Additionally, Ray Fisher, who portrays Cyborg, has since taken to Twitter to label Whedon's behavior towards the cast and crew during the reshoots as "gross, abusive, unprofessional, and completely unacceptable."

As the dust settled after the back-and-forth negotiations between Warner Bros. and Paramount, the task of disguising Cavill's mustache landed in the laps of visual effects artists. To understand the difficulty of removing the fine facial hairs, Business Insider asked a visual effects expert to explain the process. "We would need to build a 3D model of the face and then shade the surface of the skin to look realistic," said Dave Fleet of The Mill. "We would then need to track the 3D model to the movement of his head and potentially re-animate his mouth. The amount of lip animation would depend on how much of the original beard occluded his lips."

Unfortunately, the result of Superman's "Justice League" facial rebuild was a laughable finished product. The first leaked images of the cropped mustache quickly took over the internet to heavy mockery. In the aftermath, an anonymous visual effects artist for DC opened up in a Reddit AMA that has since been archived. Thankfully, a Vanity Fair article on the open questionnaire details the artist's disappointment in Paramount not budging. However, the unnamed VFX crewmate passed the blame for the sloppy onscreen product. "I'm not sure which other studio did that opening shot on the cell phone but it's dreadful," the artist said. "It shouldn't have been approved internally let alone gone all the way to make it into the film. That shocked me a bit."

Gracefully, Henry Cavill enjoyed the process of becoming the internet's favorite joke. "I sure wasn't expecting that to happen," the actor told Yahoo.com. "I love that is has. It's cool. I can show my grandkids one day." As he got in on the joke, it didn't take long for Cavill to stoke the flames of the meme sensation. The Superman performer took to his own social media, sharing a picture of a strange-looking contraption from the set of "Mission: Impossible 6" and calling it "the latest in a series of weapons designed by Warner Bros. and Paramount Studios to combat the entity known as 'Henry Cavill's moustache.'" The Instagram post goes on to call it a "relentless campaign to put an end to the seemingly inexorable conquest of this despotic 'stache."

Having nicknamed his infamous upper lip King Stache, Cavill eventually had to say goodbye to his furry friend. Of course, the facial hair that took on a life of its own required a ceremonious funeral. Cavill delivered by revealing his freshly-shaved face in another Instagram post that involved close-ups and a montage backed by Sarah McLachlan's "I Will Remember You." "It's hard for me to admit," said Cavill jokingly, "this is not CGI. I can tell you this though, I will remember him. Always."

In an unprecedented maneuver from Warner Bros., the studio gave the original director another chance to finish his vision of "Justice League." Folding to a massive social media campaign calling on WB/DC to "Release the Snyder Cut," WarnerMedia subsidiary HBO Max gave the director $70 million to rebuild the film utilizing the photography that he had already completed (via Inc). With a unique postproduction process taking place during the Covid-19 pandemic, the restructured 4-hour "Zack Snyder's Justice League" was released exclusively on the streaming platform in 2021.

As for the infamous CGI mishap surrounding Henry Cavill's mustache, the reinstated director avoided it altogether. Snyder pulled no punches discussing the theatrical release of the film, which he has famously never watched. "I would destroy the movie, I would set it on fire before I would use a single frame that I did not photograph," Snyder stated during an online Comic-Con event. As for the 'stache, "I've only seen it in memes," said Snyder in an MTV News interview. "Part of me is happy that we were able to have that not be the total legacy of the hard work that [Cavill] had done in the last 10 years."