Superman Almost Looked Wildly Different In Zack Snyder's Justice League
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Contains spoilers for Zack Snyder's Justice League
Superman has gone through many costume changes throughout the ages, some of which were represented in the Justice League Snyder Cut. One of the most important suits in the film, the black suit, has a lengthy and symbolic history rooted in stories of Superman's past. And every now and then, Superman writers make the Last Son of Krypton don it because, well, who doesn't love a healthy dose of nostalgia?
While Superman's costume change in the Snyder Cut is a radical alteration from the original Justice League theatrical release, it's actually quite tame compared to what Snyder had in mind for Superman. Yes, in a movie where Batman is willing to team up with the Joker to fight off the unholy alliance of Darkseid and an evil Superman, Snyder wanted to change Superman even more. But, like the black suit, these changes wouldn't have been too different from what longtime DC fans have witnessed. In fact, Snyder's proposed alterations would have completed the look and reference.
Supermullet
In the source material, when Superman first donned the black suit, he complemented it with a mullet and some stubble. When Snyder wanted to bring the black suit to HBO Max, he also wanted the mullet and beard to come along for the ride.
Recently, YouTuber Tyrone Magnus got to interview Snyder, and being a huge comic fan, Magnus knew the important symbiosis between the black suit and extra hair, so he asked Snyder about it. Snyder confirmed that part of his original vision involved filming Henry Cavill with long hair. Snyder explained, "In prep, we talked about it a lot, and I was a slight advocate a little bit for the mullet."
However, filming a Mulletman Cavill would have presented its own problems that far eclipsed giving him a CGI shave in the theatrical release of Justice League. Snyder stated, "There was no way to go back from that ... the beard and the long hair, there was no way to undo that. We saw how that went last time you tried to do it."
Had Snyder followed through with his '90s-shaped plan, Superman would have looked unlike any other movie rendition, but in the end, discretion won. The last thing anyone wants is another mustachegate.
Just what is so important about a mullet and facial hair?
Depending on your knowledge of Superman lore, you might wonder how Superman could have sported a mullet and stubble. He's almost always portrayed as a clean-shaven man with short, well-kept hair, occasionally with an S-shaped cowlick over his forehead. Well, even though it's rare to see Superman with any facial hair, he is still subject to biology and occasionally has to shave ... with heat vision and a mirror because no earthly razor blade can cut it. These factors tie the mullet and beard with Superman's black suit.
The black-and-silver suit, also known as the recovery suit, premiered in the aftermath of Superman's death at the hands of Doomsday. In the comic, Superman was eventually revived (because death is only temporary in comic books), but his time being dead left him in a severely weakened and powerless state. So, Superman donned a special black suit that helped him absorb solar energy — because black absorbs all colors in the visible spectrum — to speed his recovery. As for the mullet, according to Comic Book Resources, it was a side effect of the tech that brought him back. Superman had to spend months on end in a special Kryptonian reanimation matrix, and during that time his hair grew out. Moreover, he didn't have time to cut it after reviving because DC was in the middle of its own Clone Saga featuring Superman stand-ins and doppelgangers.
Since Superman in the Justice League Snyder's Cut is also fresh out of the ground after being killed by Doomsday and subsequently coming back to life, it actually would have made sense for him to sport a mullet since Batman v Superman: Dawn of Justice ended by hinting he wasn't all dead, only mostly dead.
The studio wanted to fall back on what works
Even though Zack Snyder didn't fight to give Superman a mullet in his cut of Justice League, especially after unraveling the hair's logistical problems, he still had to fight for his right to keep changes that were feasible.
During the interview with Tyrone Magnus, Snyder revealed that the studio higher ups weren't keen on the black suit. According to Snyder, they were "leaning on [him] pretty hard." A war of words ensued, as whenever Snyder said "it was a mistake" to use the standard colored outfit, the studio countered by claiming he "didn't know what [he] was talking about" because "no one wants the black suit." But, Snyder was confident the studio execs would change their minds in post-production, and lucky for him, he had already figured out how to run the vanilla red-and-blue suit through a CG filter to give it the iconic black-and-silver sheen.
Since the Justice League Snyder Cut features the black suit, Snyder's vision was vindicated. Magnus summed up the result by stating, "We care more than studios think."