Paramount Rejected WB Offer to CGI Mustache on Henry Cavill For M:I 6

Paramount rejected Warner Bros’ offer to add a CGI mustache on Henry Cavill in Mission: Impossible 6 so he could shave it for Justice League reshoots, where he reprised his role as Clark Kent aka Superman. The long-awaited live-action team up of Superman, Batman (Ben Affleck), Wonder Woman (Gal Gadot), The Flash (Ezra Miller), Aquaman (Jason Momoa), and Cyborg (Ray Fisher) hit theaters last weekend to middling reviews and an underwhelming box office. In the months leading up to Justice League’s debut – and continuing after its premiere – many have speculated how much Warner Bros. meddled with the final cut and how much was changed by Joss Whedon’s reshoots.

One talking point regarding the reshoots was the fact that Cavill didn’t shave his Mission: Impossible 6 mustache when he returned to the Superman suit, with Warner Bros. instead opting to use visual effects to remove it in post-production. Whether or not the CGI is obvious depends on which viewer you ask, but for those who can spot the VFX, it does offer some insight into how many of Superman’s scenes in Justice League were from Whedon’s reshoots. Now, one of the visual effects artists on Justice League revealed the lengths to which Warner Bros. was willing to go to have Cavill shave his mustache and prevent the CGI mustache removal entirely.

According to Reddit user LDN_Film, a visual effects artist on Justice League (whose identity was verified by mods on Reddit), said Warner Bros. offered to pay to have facial hair added to Cavill for Mission: Impossible 6 so that he could shave his mustache ahead of Justice League reshoots. LDN_Film said the VFX team did test effects on footage of Cavill as Superman to prove how much easier it is to add a beard/mustache than hide it. However, Paramount rejected the offer.

Director Christopher McQuarrie previously teased the reason Cavill couldn’t shave his Mission: Impossible 6 mustache for Justice League, saying fans will understand once the spy thriller hits theaters next summer. Cavill has since poked fun at the “moustache fiasco” and the discussions between Warner Bros. and Paramount, while Affleck addressed Cavill’s facial hair during the press tour for Justice League. While most involved seem to have a good sense of humor when it comes to the amount of discussion surrounding Superman’s upper lip, LDN_Film’s comments hint that there was a great deal of back-and-forth behind the scenes between the studios. Eventually, though, they landed on Warner Bros. using CGI to remove Cavill’s mustache.

Still, the mustache “fiasco” is just one point of contention surrounding Justice League. Arguably the bigger debate since the film hit theaters is whether fans will receive a Zack Snyder cut of Justice League, with a petition receiving more than 100,000 signatures. Based on that number, fans are more concerned about the bigger changes the reshoots made to the original vision for Justice League than Cavill’s mustache removal. LDN_Film also addressed whether fans would actually get to see that Snyder cut of Justice League, but those who enjoyed Man of Steel and Batman V Superman: Dawn of Justice will no doubt hold out hope for a glimpse of what the original plan was – perhaps starting with the scenes Cavill filmed as Superman during principal photography for Justice League.

KEY RELEASE DATES
Justice League release date: Nov 17, 2017
Mission: Impossible 6 release date: Jul 27, 2018
Aquaman release date: Dec 21, 2018
Shazam! release date: Apr 5, 2019
Wonder Woman 2 release date: Nov 1, 2019
Cyborg release date: Apr 3, 2020
Green Lantern Corps. release date: Jul 24, 2020