It’s been just about 6 months since Warner Bros. unleashed the dumpster fire that is known as “Justice League” on the world. While many fans were hoping the film was just a bad fever dream, it seems as if that’s not actually the case. The movie is real, and yes, it was bad. And now, in the shadow of “Avengers: Infinity War,” the film’s star Henry Cavill is finally talking openly and honestly about the controversial DC superhero flick.
In an interview from Empire Magazine (via CBM), Cavill was asked about a variety of things, including the infamous mustache, the horrible marketing, and the audience reception for “Justice League.”
READ MORE: Christopher McQuarrie Talked About A Potential ‘Superman’ Film With Henry Cavill
“I was slightly surprised,” Cavill says about the situation with mustache-gate. “When we decided to go for the mustache, 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…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.”
Moving onto the marketing of the film. Cavill, who was absent from every trailer, promo picture, and ancillary advertisement for the film, thinks the idea of hiding Superman’s involvement in the film was “ridiculous.”
“Well, that whole concept was faintly ridiculous and I honestly believe everyone viewed it as such,” said the actor. “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.”
Ultimately, it doesn’t appear that any type of marketing could have saved the film from the utter disappointment at the box office. As is well-documented, “Justice League,” the DC equivalent of “The Avengers,” went on to become the lowest-grossing film of the entire DC film universe.
READ MORE: James Wan’s ‘Aquaman’ Looks To Build A New World In The DC Universe [CinemaCon]
As for the negative fan reaction to the film, Cavill was very diplomatic, saying, “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.”
Moving forward, WB/DC is going with a variety of different films, with rumors floating around about a dozen or so films, including the “Batman” spin-off “Nightwing,” from “The LEGO Batman Movie” director Chris McKay. Not much is known about the film, but the director did go on social media recently to deny that Zac Efron has been cast in the titular role. Sorry, “Baywatch” fans, Efron isn’t going to suit up in the DC film universe anytime soon.
Not true
— Chris McKay (@buddboetticher) May 13, 2018