Henry Cavill has shaved his infamous mustache -- and posted a dramatic tribute video to prove it.
"Oh, hello," the newly stubble-free actor said in the Instagram video on Tuesday. "Don't be alarmed -- it's me, Henry Cavill. Sometimes superhero, and former secret agent. But now, completely clean shaven."
He added, "sometimes, I even have trouble recognizing myself. This is not CGI, he's really gone. I can tell you this though, I will remember him. Always."
The video then launched into a series of photos of the mustache to Sarah McLachlan's "I Will Remember You." The montage then ended with the following note: "Shaved But Not Forgotten."
Cavill grew out the facial hair for his role in "Mission: Impossible 6," but reshoots for "Justice League," in which Cavill plays Superman, ended up taking longer than expected.
Warner Bros. dealt with Cavill's mustache in post-production, attempting to use CGI to give Superman his normal clean-shaven look. And while, yes, you can't see his mustache, Cavill's upper lip doesn't come through the process unscathed. In more than one scene in "Justice League" it's very obvious that heavy CGI work was done on his mouth -- and fans were quick to notice.
The 10 Most Terrifying Shots of Superman's CGI Mouth in the 'Justice League' Theatrical Cut
There is at least one thing about the "Justice League" Snyder Cut that we're pretty sure will be a big improvement: it should have Superman's real mouth, and not the CGI monstrosity that plagued the theatrical cut. During Joss Whedon's reshoots, Henry Cavill was sporting his "Mission: Impossible" mustache and they had to CGI over it. And it was very disturbing! So lets reflect on that horror while we patiently wait for the Snyder Cut to hit HBO Max next year.
One of the most troubling scenes is actually the very first of the movie: an old cell phone video taken by some kids before Superman died in "Batman V Superman." This is the first full shot of his face, which immediately sets off all sorts of red flags. What an incredible choice of first impressions by Joss Whedon and Warner Bros.
For the record, I don't blame the CGI folks for this. I think mankind was simply not meant to digitally remove mustaches from a movie character's face.
The CGI lip obviously was a hot topic of conversation when "Justice League" was released in theaters, folks pulled this shot (taken just after he was resurrected) from a pirated copy of the movie to make jokes about it. We are proud to present a high quality version of that image for you here.
It's a wonder that Lois still loved him after he smiled at her like this.
Maybe the most overall disconcerting bit is when Superman uses his ice breath to freeze Steppenwolf's axe. He's not even recognizable as Henry Cavill there.
What a gift, forcing us to look at this horrific thing from another, more grotesque angle.
The mid-credits scene, where Superman and the Flash decide to race to see who's faster, might have been cute were it not for, well, you know know what the issue is by now. Below are three other shots from that scene -- truly it is a wealth of horrors, including this part where I don't even know how to describe what his mouth is doing.
If you really want the full CGI lip experience you should watch "Justice League" in 4K and Dolby Vision, as I did earlier this week. It's so much worse!
In this part he kind of looks like Michael Shannon, who played General Zod in "Man of Steel."
AGH! They actually ended the movie with this almost-freeze frame. Good lord.
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Henry Cavill's infamous CGI upper lip in "Justice League" only appears in about a half-dozen scenes, but that's more than enough for it to make a major impact
There is at least one thing about the "Justice League" Snyder Cut that we're pretty sure will be a big improvement: it should have Superman's real mouth, and not the CGI monstrosity that plagued the theatrical cut. During Joss Whedon's reshoots, Henry Cavill was sporting his "Mission: Impossible" mustache and they had to CGI over it. And it was very disturbing! So lets reflect on that horror while we patiently wait for the Snyder Cut to hit HBO Max next year.
