Here's Why Superman's Mouth Looks Weird in 'Justice League'
There's actually a perfectly logical explanation
Warner Bros
So perhaps the biggest entertainment news of the year beyond the coronavirus pandemic upending the entire industry is that Warner Bros. will finally release the Snyder cut of "Justice League" on HBO Max next year. It's big news for many reasons, not the least of which is that this new cut will fix one of the biggest problems with the theatrical version: Superman's messed up mouth.
You may not have even realized this was a problem as you watched "Justice League" and saw Batman, Wonder Woman, Superman, Aquaman, the Flash and Cyborg team up to defeat a big ole bad guy and save the world from some kind of harsh apocalyptic future. You just knew that something about the way Superman's face looked was…off. Something just didn't look right.
But yeah, you did not hallucinate that Henry Cavill's mouth looked weird in "Justice League." It definitely did look extremely weird in a couple scenes, and there is a reason for that.
Also Read: The 10 Most Terrifying Shots of Superman's CGI Mouth in 'Justice League' (Photos)
So "Justice League," like all big-budget movies these days, underwent scheduled reshoots prior to its release, as director Zack Snyder left the project after principal photography and Joss Whedon took over the reins. But Whedon didn't just finish the movie that Snyder started — he also had to rewrite portions of it and significantly rejigger the plot of the film.
And as a result, those reshoots took much longer than Warner Bros anticipated. Cavill ended up with a bit of a conflict as a result: he had grown a mustache for "Mission: Impossible 6," but obviously he couldn't have a mustache while playing Superman/Clark Kent.
Because shaving his mustache and then having to grow it again would have forced an alteration in the "Mission: Impossible 6" production schedule, Paramount forbade him from shaving it off while doing protracted "Justice League" reshoots. And as TheWrap reported back in July, Cavill ended up shooting a number of scenes as Superman while sporting a mustache in real life.
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 because he makes some unnatural expressions — his mouth moving in a way that is not the way Henry Cavill's mouth normally moves.
Also Read: Will the 'Justice League' Snyder Cut Actually Deliver What Fans Asked For?
And that's there were parts where he looked like this:
So there you have it, the answer to why Superman's appearance in "Justice League" may have left you feeling oddly disconcerted. That's what you call movie not-quite-magic.
But the good news is the the Snyder Cut, which will presumably make use of footage that Whedon discarded and likely won't use any of the extra stuff that Whedon shot while Cavill had his mustache, should be able to avoid this whole issue. So that's something to look forward to, for sure.
Every Batman Movie Ranked, From Worst to Best (Photos)
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We've arrived at the 30th anniversary of the release of Tim Burton's "Batman," the film that you could argue ushered in the modern age of big screen superheroes. But whether or not you agree with that idea, you can rest assured that you will almost certainly disagree with our rankings of all the Batman movies. Because that's just how these things go.
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15. "Batman and Robin" (1949) is just an abysmal experience, with a bad lead actor wearing a floppy-eared Batsuit. Though The Wizard, a villain original to this serial, is admittedly cool looking, it's not enough to stem the boredom in this four-hour slog.
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14. "Batman" (1943) gets points for novelty thanks to its hilariously over-the-top old fashioned World War II racism. But Batman's first onscreen appearance lacks pretty much everything that would mark it as an engaging filmgoing experience today. It's cool that a grandfather clock provides the entrance to the Batcave, though.
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13. "Justice League" (2017) is just total nonsense, and unlike "Batman v Superman" can't even boast a good performance from Affleck as Bruce Wayne. And it doesn't have the decency to be enjoyably bad like "Batman and Robin" or "The Dark Knight Rises."
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12. "Batman and Robin" (1997) is rightly hated, but it's tremendously entertaining here and there. Uma Thurman and Arnold Schwarzeneggar are going so far over the top I can't help but admire them.
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11. "The Dark Knight Rises" (2012) probably wasn't intended to be a grim and gritty Shumacher Batmovie, but that is indeed what it is. This is Nolan going full Hollywood, smashing plot points into place by sheer force of will rather than because they make sense. An extremely theatrical Tom Hardy as Bane is amusing front to back, and a nuke with a countdown clock on it will never get old.
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10. "Batman v Superman: The Dawn of Justice" (2016) is nearly saved by Ben Affleck going all-out as Bruce Wayne, but director Zack Snyder just couldn't keep his plot on track. There's too much ground to cover, and the movie is too unfocused to ever really cover any of it.
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9. "Batman" (1989) is fondly remembered mostly because it was the first Batmovie in a couple decades. It isn't actually very good, though. The reveal that a younger version of the Joker killed Bruce Wayne's parents is as hamfistedly dumb as it gets in a "Batman" movie.
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8. "Batman v Superman Ultimate Edition" does so much to improve the experience of watching it that it warrants its own entry -- it's basically a completely different move with all the important story beats and character moments it adds.
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7. "Batman Forever" (1995) hits just the right tone for what Joel Shumacher was trying to do with the two films he directed. Tommy Lee Jones, as Two Face, is doing stuff in this movie that is hard to believe even today, given his perpetual sour face in nearly every other movie he's been in.
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6. "Batman: Mask of the Phantasm" (1993) Remember that time they released a "Batman" cartoon theatrically? It gets lost amongst all the live-action ones, but "Mask of the Phantasm" is better than most of them.
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5. "The Dark Knight" (2008) should be way shorter, but Heath Ledger's Joker is far and away the best villain in any of these movies. Ledger elevates what would otherwise be just another self-indulgent Christopher Nolan exercise into an endlessly watchable picture.
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4. "The LEGO Batman Movie" (2017) is funny, sweet and self-deprecating -- exactly what we needed in the wake of the disaster that was "Batman v Superman."
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3. "Batman Begins" (2005) is the most complete film, on its own, in the entire franchise. It's just, like, a regular movie except it's about Batman. It has actual characters and everything, and Christian Bale's Bruce Wayne even has emotions. It's weird.
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2. "Batman Returns" (1992) is one of the best of the franchise because it's really just a political thriller. The Penguin emerges from the sewer and runs for mayor of Gotham! It's great stuff, especially now that Donald Trump is president.
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1. "Batman: The Movie" (1966) has a timelessness that none of the other films do, and it's just a delight from beginning to end thanks to Adam West's winking Batman and the coalition of villains who can't stop cackling maniacally. Watching it again recently, I found it functions almost perfectly as a parody of the super-serious Christopher Nolan Batfilms, which is incredible.
Celebrate the anniversary of Tim Burton's "Batman" by arguing about which Batman movie is the best
We've arrived at the 30th anniversary of the release of Tim Burton's "Batman," the film that you could argue ushered in the modern age of big screen superheroes. But whether or not you agree with that idea, you can rest assured that you will almost certainly disagree with our rankings of all the Batman movies. Because that's just how these things go.
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