Did Former Superman Brandon Routh Just Pay Homage to Henry Cavill's Mustache on 'Legends of Tomorrow?'

After making jokes about ratings, Supernatural, and more earlier this season, could DC's Legends of Tomorrow have added a "Superman's mustache" joke into tonight's episode just for the heck of it?

It seems possible -- if only because otherwise, the decision to give Ray Palmer (played by Superman Returns star Brandon Routh) a mustache this week seems...pretty random.

The first time Ray appears on camera in the episode, he is covering his face with a piece of paper. Eventually, he drops the paper to speak and a Burt Reynolds/My Name is Earl-style mustache covers his upper lip, surprising everyone. He admits that he did it because he heard that Nora Darhk likes men with mustaches, and that he had asked Gideo (the ship's AI) to stimulate his hair follicles to grow it more quickly.

When they head back in time, he goes out on a mission wearing the facial hair, but when he returns to the Waverider, he apparently decides to shave it.

Unfortunately for Ray, there is a chronal storm caused by damage Constantine and Charlie have done to the timeline, and only half of the mustache is gone when we last see him.

Having the former Superman star abruptly and without any particularly compelling onscreen reason suddenly appear with a mustache, to badly hide it and then eventually attempt to remove it but not quite succeed -- well, if these are not intentional jokes at the expense of the Justice League movie, the story is almost better if they were.

For those who might have forgotten, Henry Cavill grew a mustache for Mission: Impossible - Fallout last year and, when Justice League had to go in for reshoots during production on that film, he was contractually forbidden from shaving it. Warner Bros. was ultimately forced to digitally remove the mustache -- a process that was costly and yielded unimpressive results, turning Cavill's potentially-final outing as the Man of Steel into fodder for an endless number of internet jokes.

In any event, Routh will go into the show's midseason finale -- next week's "Legends of To-Meow-Meow" -- with one half of a mustache on his face, suspended in midair. That is...quite a position to hold for the next seven days.

DC's Legends of Tomorrow airs at 9 p.m. ET/PT on Monday nights, following episodes of Arrow on The CW.