The Superman-centered CGI in Zack Snyder's Justice League is the total opposite of the digital embarrassment the Man of Steel endured in the theatrical cut. Recently released on home media, the Snyder Cut's contrasts with the 2017 Justice League theatrical cut continue to be fascinating. Henry Cavill's Superman is one of the movie's standout elements in this regard, as he more than any other character embodies both the CGI blunders of the theatrical cut and the vast improvements later seen in the Snyder Cut.
Cavill's mustache from Mission: Impossible - Fallout became the bane of the film's infamous reshoots after Zack Snyder's initial departure, with the mustache having to be digitally erased in post-production. Unfortunately, with how rushed the last-minute revamping of the movie was, the CGI lower half of Cavill's face stood out like a sore thumb when Justice League hit theaters. With nearly every Superman scene in the movie able to be attributed to the reshoots due to the digital smudging of Cavill's face, Justice League's clumsy CGI remained a punchline for the next few years (Cavill himself even joining in), until the Snyder Cut came along with a Superman makeover of its own.
With Superman returning to life after his death in Batman v Superman: Dawn of Justice, the Last Son of Krypton dons the famed black suit from his comic book resurrection, though Snyder's reasoning for this lay more in Kal-El's character arc than powering him back up like in the comics. What's impressive about this is that, even under Snyder's original direction, Cavill was actually wearing the red and blue Superman suit on set during production of the movie. This was reportedly a studio mandate, but Snyder had his heart set on Superman coming back in black as part of his journey, and he found a way to work around it.
Through specific lighting techniques and trickery, Snyder was able to film Cavill's present day scenes in the movie in such a way that the suit could be digitally recolored in post-production. Once the green light for the Snyder Cut was given, the change was made, and there isn't the slightest indication in the finished film that Cavill's suit was ever a different color. Furthermore, Snyder also repurposed a couple of Superman shots from Man of Steel and Batman v Superman for the movie's Knightmare future teases during his resurrection and in Justice League's epilogue and, while more readily recognizable to anyone able to recall the scenes they're drawn from, their inclusion isn't jarring enough to be a distraction from the scenes they're featured in.
The story of the Snyder Cut is one that will remain a legend among superhero movies. While the differences between the theatrical version and the Snyder Cut are huge, there's perhaps no bigger irony than the fact of Superman being the subject of both the biggest CGI faux pas of the former and a very impressive digital wardrobe swap in Zack Snyder's Justice League. As interest in Snyder's unmade sequels to the film is already boosted following in the Snyder Cut of Justice League, and the "Restore the Snyderverse" campaign continues, Superman's black suit might end up with a double meaning in how it relates to both his comic book and cinematic resurrections.
