Henry Cavill‘s mustache became ‘a thing’ in 2017 when he was not allowed to shave off the fur on his upper lip that he’d grown for Mission: Impossible Fallout for Justice League reshoots as Superman.
The decision forced Warner Bros. to turn to CGI to digitally remove the facial hair from his Superman character, much to the derision of Justice League fans when the movie opened in theatres last November.
On Monday, Paramount Studios, who own the Mission: Impossible franchise, commemorated the mustache by donating in its name to the men’s health charity The Movember Foundation as part of International Men’s Day.
It lives on: On Monday, Paramount Studios, who own the Mission: Impossible franchise, commemorated the mustache Henry Cavill grew for his role in Fallout by donating in its name to the men’s health charity The Movember Foundation as part of International Men’s Day
‘In memory of Henry Cavill’s #KingStache in Mission: Impossible Fallout, @ParamountMovies has made a donation to @Movember in support of their men’s health initiatives,’ the Hollywood studio tweeted, adding hashtag #LongLiveTheMo.’
The studio added a montage of images of Cavill and his mustache to the tweet and the video ended with the hashtag #ShavedButNotForgotten.
It was the hashtag that Cavill himself had used when he posted an Instagram video in March revealing his freshly shaved upper lip.
#KingStache: Cavill’s character in the sixth Mission: Impossible movie, in which he starred with Tom Cruise, had a ‘tache and he wasn’t allowed to shave it off for Justice League reshoots
Furor: The mustache became ‘a thing’ in 2017 with fans divided over whether the hair on the actor’s upper lip should be sacrificed to film more scenes as the clean-shaven Man Of Steel
‘Shaved But Not Forgotten’: This past March, the mustache finally bit the dust for real and a freshly-shaved Cavill posted a video to Instagram mourning its passing
Rugged: He was clean shaven when it finally came to promoting Mission: Impossible – Fallout. He’s pictured in Beijing, China, on August 29
The British actor, 35, had had plenty of fun with the problem of the ‘tache last year.
As the furor over ‘to shave or not to shave’ reached its zenith, he posted a series of funny photos to social media claiming Paramount and Warner Bros. were locked in a battle to design weapons ‘to combat the entity known as ‘Henry Cavill’s Moustache’.’
He wrote: ‘There has been no discussion over whether to shave or not to shave for the JL reshoots, simply a relentless campaign to put an end to the seemingly inexorable conquest of this despotic ‘stach’.
The actor joked: ‘It is not a question of IF I should shave – it is a question of how can we possibly be victorious against such a beast without bringing our own doom raining down upon us.’
He added the hashtags #HopeIsAllWeHaveLeft and #MoustacheImpossible.
Wizardry: Warner Bros. ended up using CGI to digitally remove Cavill’s mustache in Justice League, right. It reportedly cost the studio ‘approximately $25 million’
Not impressed: Fans took to Twitter after the release of Justice League to mock the digital alteration
Too much hair: The vanishing facial hair was the brunt of much wit on Twitter
Shortly after the release of Justice League, Cavill became Twitter’s most talked-about Justice League member thanks to some particularly unsubtle CGI work done on his upper lip.
In an interview with Fox, Henry explained that the first step in masking his facial hair was to flatten it with wax.
He then went on: ‘Then I had dots all over my face….. I was covered in dots and had a big mustache. It was definitely a new look for Superman.’
In the end, it’s believed the studio ponied up ‘approximately $25 million’ to digitally remove Cavill’s mustache.
Audience members were less than enthusiastic about the results, however.
‘Justice League’s attempt to hide Henry Cavill’s mustache with CGI is everything you’ve hoped it would be,’ one fan wrote.
Another suggested the ‘CGI mustache mouth’ should be turned into a drinking game.
Funny: Some were amused by the botched job
An idea: One Twitter user suggested that the sub-par special effects could be turned into a drinking game