Six months after the release of Justice League, and even now, there are those who still struggle to wrap their heads around the film’s shortcomings.
Coming off the back of Wonder Woman and its own box office triumph, many were lured into thinking that the DC Extended Universe had turned a corner, only to be disappointed by the bloated, CG-laden blockbuster that stumbled into theaters on November 17th. Oh, what could have been…
But as Henry Cavill tells Empire Magazine (h/t CBM), you “can’t win every time.” Currently in the midst of press rounds for Mission: Impossible – Fallout, the Superman actor spoke candidly about Justice League‘s prolonged production, its “ridiculous” marketing campaign, and the moustache that almost sent the Internet into a tizzy.
I was slightly surprised. When we decided to go for the moustache, I certainly wasn’t expecting all the events to unfold as they were going to unfold. I wasn’t expecting Justice League reshoots to be as extensive as they were. When it came to that, it was one of those things where I’m in the middle of another movie, and to change my look for a movie that should have finished already becomes a real problem. And as you will see when the movie comes out, to have a fake moustache on would not have been a possibility. You’ll think, ‘Okay, yeah, a fake moustache would perhaps have been blown off in this situation.’ Unfortunately, it led to much dismay when Justice League came out, but that’s the nature of these things. You can’t win every time.
If you followed Justice League closely, you’ll no doubt remember Warner’s decision to omit Superman from much of the film’s marketing campaign – no photos, no posters, nada. Doing so reportedly had a negative impact on the box office numbers, though Cavill still maintains that he “wanted to leave some mystery” for the audience.
Yeah. Right there, with no moustache, at the very beginning of the movie [Laughs]. Well, that whole concept was faintly ridiculous and I honestly believe everyone viewed it as such. Of course, if I’m on the press tour I’m in the movie. Obviously, you knew, and that was a different little tap dance we danced together. But for the audience, I wanted to leave some mystery. I think it’s important to have some mystery in movies these days.
As for the movie’s critical reception? To his credit, Henry Cavill is pretty pragmatic when it comes to Justice League‘s failure, and admits that lessons were learned.
I think all these things have their place and their time. There are many reasons why the audience have responded in the way they responded. It’s all lessons learned.
Justice League is available now for Blu-ray, DVD and all the usual platforms.