# Justice League (2017 Film) The 2017 DC superhero movie assembled Batman, Wonder Woman, Aquaman, Cyborg, and The Flash on screen for the first time, but a mid production director swap and hasty reshoots turned it into an internet punching bag. Henry Cavill's digitally scrubbed mustache and the years long fan campaign to release Zack Snyder's original cut made the film one of the most joked about superhero productions of the decade. ## Origin Warner Bros. confirmed on April 27, 2014 that Zack Snyder would direct a Justice League film as a follow up to Man of Steel and the then upcoming Batman v Superman: Dawn of Justice, both Snyder projects[1]. Variety framed the announcement as WB's answer to Marvel's The Avengers, which had shown a shared cinematic universe could pay off at the box office[1]. Principal photography began on April 11, 2016[9], and after the mixed reception to Batman v Superman, the studio formed a dedicated DC Films unit under Jon Berg and Geoff Johns to give the franchise clearer oversight[2]. In March 2017, Snyder's daughter Autumn died by suicide at age 20, though the family kept the news private for months while the movie sat on a brief production break[3]. Snyder initially tried to return, saying he thought burying himself in work would be cathartic, but by May he stepped away from post production to focus on his family[3]. Warner Bros. brought in Joss Whedon, fresh off directing The Avengers for Marvel, to shoot additional scenes and steer the film to its November 17, 2017 release[3]. - **Platform:** Theatrical release (viral meme spread on Twitter and blogs) - **Creator:** Zack Snyder & Joss Whedon (directors); Warner Bros. / DC Films - **Date:** 2017 ## Overview The theatrical Justice League cut ran roughly two hours, carried a lighter tone credited to Joss Whedon's rewrites, and gave audiences a Superman whose upper lip did not match his face because of last minute visual effects work[5][6]. Jokes about Cavill's philtrum, the groove between nose and top lip, spread the moment the film opened, with critics and viewers screencapping the wobbly CGI to point out how obviously the mustache had been painted over[5]. The word 'philtrum' itself trended in reviews and reaction pieces, since suddenly everyone was Googling the anatomical term just to describe what looked off about Superman's face[5]. Online, the film also turned into shorthand for studio interference and expensive reshoots gone sideways. Warner Bros. had brought in Whedon to lighten the tone Zack Snyder set with Batman v Superman: Dawn of Justice, and the seams showed on screen[3][4]. 'Release the Snyder Cut' grew into a sustained fan revolt that blamed the studio for gutting Snyder's darker version, and the campaign lasted long enough that HBO Max eventually funded a four hour cut for a 2021 release[9]. That gave the meme a second life, since fans could point to the finished Snyder Cut as proof they had been right about the theatrical version all along[9]. ## How It Spread The film opened to weak reviews and worse reactions online. Rotten Tomatoes' critic consensus flagged the murky look, thin characters, and chaotic action[7], and Metacritic aggregated a mixed to negative response from major reviewers[8]. Within hours of the movie hitting theaters, jokes about Henry Cavill's upper lip flooded Twitter and entertainment blogs, because his mustache from Mission: Impossible 6 had been contractually protected on that set and had to be digitally scrubbed out during Justice League reshoots[6]. Vulture built an entire review around the word 'philtrum,' walking readers through exactly how bad the digital shave looked one minute and thirty seconds into the movie[5]. The studio had already spent around $25 million on roughly two months of reshoots split between London and Los Angeles, well above the $6 to $10 million range Variety noted as typical for pickup work[4]. Cavill later explained he wore facial tracking dots and had the fake mustache waxed back onto his top lip so effects artists could rebuild his face in post[6]. Once fans learned a longer, darker Snyder version sat unfinished on the shelf, 'Release the Snyder Cut' turned into a sustained pressure campaign across Twitter and Reddit that ran for years[9]. The campaign paid off. In 2021, HBO Max released Zack Snyder's Justice League, a four hour cut assembled from Snyder's original footage plus new material, giving the meme a second wind as fans compared shots side by side with the theatrical release[9]. Those side by side comparisons themselves turned into a meme format, with clips of the mustache scenes shared as evidence of how differently the two versions handled the same moments[9]. ## How to Use The film generates a few recurring meme templates. The most common is the philtrum joke, where creators post the awkwardly smoothed close up of Cavill's face from the opening cold open and pair it with captions about bad CGI or contractual obligations[5]. 'Release the Snyder Cut' works as a rallying phrase whenever fans want a company to give in to a coordinated pressure campaign, and after 2021 it also functions as a cautionary punchline about being careful what you wish for[9]. Side by side comparisons pair a theatrical cut screenshot with the matching Snyder Cut shot to argue about tone, color grading, or costume design[9]. ## Frequently Asked Questions ### What is Justice League (2017 Film)? A DC superhero movie that assembled Batman, Wonder Woman, Aquaman, Cyborg, and The Flash to fight the villain Steppenwolf, and became a running internet joke over Henry Cavill's CGI erased mustache and the mid production director swap[6]. ### Where did Justice League (2017 Film) come from? Warner Bros. announced Zack Snyder as director in April 2014 as a sequel to Man of Steel and Batman v Superman[1], and the film released on November 17, 2017 after Joss Whedon took over post production[3]. ### What does Justice League (2017 Film) mean? Online, the film is shorthand for expensive studio meddling gone wrong, especially the mustache VFX and the swap from Snyder to Joss Whedon after Snyder's family tragedy[3][5]. ### How do you use Justice League (2017 Film)? People typically grab screenshots of Cavill's altered upper lip and joke about the philtrum, or invoke 'Release the Snyder Cut' whenever fans want a company to bow to a pressure campaign[5][9]. ### Is Justice League (2017 Film) still popular? The theatrical cut is largely dismissed, but Zack Snyder's Justice League, released in 2021 after the fan campaign, is still discussed as the version most fans prefer[9]. ### Why did Henry Cavill have a CGI mustache? He was mid shoot on Mission: Impossible 6, which contractually required his mustache, so Warner Bros. paid to digitally erase it during Justice League reshoots[6]. ### Who directed Justice League (2017)? Zack Snyder started the film but stepped away during post production after his daughter's death, and Joss Whedon finished the reshoots and post work[3]. ### How much did the reshoots cost? Around $25 million over roughly two months in London and Los Angeles, well above the standard $6 to $10 million range for pickup work[4]. ### What is the Snyder Cut? Zack Snyder's Justice League, a 2021 HBO Max director's cut released after a sustained fan campaign known as 'Release the Snyder Cut'[9]. ### Who is in the Justice League cast? Ben Affleck, Henry Cavill, Gal Gadot, Jason Momoa, Ezra Miller, Ray Fisher, and Amy Adams headline the film[3]. ### What did critics think of Justice League? Rotten Tomatoes' consensus criticized the murky aesthetic and thin characters[7], and Metacritic aggregated a mixed to negative score from major reviewers[8]. ### Why was DC Films created? After Batman v Superman disappointed critically, Warner Bros. formed the division to tighten oversight of its DC movies under Jon Berg and Geoff Johns[2]. ### What is a philtrum? The vertical groove between the nose and top lip, a word that trended after Vulture used it to describe what went wrong with Cavill's upper lip in the film[5]. ## References 1. [https://variety.com/2014/film/news/zack-snyder-to-direct-justice-league-movie-1201165409/]() 2. [https://www.hollywoodreporter.com/heat-vision/batman-v-superman-fallout-warner-895174]() 3. [https://www.hollywoodreporter.com/heat-vision/zack-snyder-steps-down-justice-league-deal-family-tragedy-1006455]() 4. [https://variety.com/2017/film/news/justice-league-reshoots-1202502433/]() 5. [https://www.vulture.com/2017/11/lets-discuss-henry-cavills-mustache-in-justice-league.html]() 6. [https://comicbook.com/dc/2017/11/17/justice-league-superman-henry-cavill-mustache-CGI/]() 7. [https://www.rottentomatoes.com/m/justice_league_2017]() 8. [https://www.metacritic.com/movie/justice-league?ref=hp]() 9. [https://knowyourmeme.com/memes/subcultures/justice-league-2017-film]() --- Source: https://meme.com/memes/justice-league Published by meme.com — The Internet Meme Library