Back in January, a “Superman” teaser dropped, and instead of awe and admiration, it gifted the internet with a close-up of the Man of Steel that had everyone asking, “Why does his face look like it’s eating the rest of his body?”
In the now-infamous final shot, Superman (played by David Corenswet) soars majestically over a snowy landscape — and then the camera decides to lunge at his face like it’s trying to give him a nasal exam. The result? A bobblehead Supes with a teeny-tiny torso trailing behind.
Naturally, social media had a field day. James Gunn heard the laughter (and the memes) and is now telling Entertainment Weekly that the shot has been cut. He’s also trying to Jedi mind-trick everyone into pretending the moment never happened.
It was a TV commercial, and it wasn't a finished visual effects shot. I didn't love the shot, so it's not even a shot that's in the movie.
Interesting pivot, considering Gunn previously insisted there wasn’t any VFX on Corenswet’s face in that scene (“absolute zero CG on his face”). So either the effects were unfinished and nonexistent at the same time, or—stay with me here—he just didn’t want the shot to overshadow the rest of his movie. In all likelihood, the real special effect here was fan backlash forcing a director to hit delete.
