Scenes and sequences are cut from movies for a variety of different reasons. Sometimes the scene doesn’t fit with the pacing of the movie, other times it changes the tone of the movie, and most of the time, it’s simply because the film is too long. These scenes are then pushed to the bonus features of a DVD, the abyss of YouTube, or tucked away forever in a vault.
The DC’s vault of lost and abandoned scenes contains a long list of deleted scenes that offer everything from fan service to random unnecessary nonsense. However, underneath all of the nonsense, there are some holy grails that unlock a whole new DC universe.
These scenes have incredible power and could ultimately make or break a DC movie. They were tucked away in the dark vault, buried under years of footage to prevent them from making any catastrophic changes. However, we rummaged through the darkness of the vault and brought these scenes into the light just for you. These scenes are alternate endings, extended scenes, and completely unused footage that will change the way that you look at DC movies.
So, get ready to alter the course of history, because here are the 20 Deleted Scenes That Would’ve Completely Changed DC Movies.
Wonder Woman: Introducing the Mother Boxes
While Marvel has constantly hinted at the Infinity Stones throughout their movies, DC has kept their mystical artifacts hidden. The Mother Boxes came as a nice surprise when they made their debut in Justice League, but that wasn’t how they were meant to be revealed.
A deleted scene in Wonder Woman uncovers the truth and shows that the Mother Boxes were actually supposed to be introduced at the end of the Amazonian’s movie. In this scene, Etta Candy meets with Sameer, Charlie, and Chief Napi to discuss another mission that involves recovering a very old artifact from western Belgium. Etta eventually distributes the mission documents and one of them reveals an image of a Mother Box.
Justice League: Barry Allen Saves Iris West
Justice League spent a lot of time focusing on the team and left each character’s background to be explored in their eventual solo origin stories. However, there was originally more insight into Barry Allen’s life than we saw in the film and a nod to a special person in his life.
In a deleted scene, Barry smashes a diner window with his finger to rush to save a woman in a car crash. When we get a glimpse at the woman, we learn that it’s Iris West, Barry’s future wife. Hopefully, Iris isn’t deleted forever and we eventually get to see her star in Flash’s life in future movies.
Batman Returns: A Toy in a Store Reveals Batman's Identity
Tim Burton brought superhero movies back to life after producing his dark versions of Batman. However, one scene, in particular, could’ve changed everything. There was a scene that was deleted from Batman Returns that focused on children flocking to a Batman-themed toy store.
One of the toys that was featured in the scene was a Batman arcade game that had a picture of Bruce Wayne’s face on the cover. This would’ve revealed his identity to the entire world and changed the focus of the movie. Fortunately for us, Burton found this to be out of place and completely ridiculous and the scene was cut from the final movie.
Suicide Squad: Why Harley Has a Bat
We never got to see Joker’s breakout from Arkham Asylum and it was because the scene was likely deleted for being too violent. The scene in question showed Joker escaping from Arkham and beating someone down with a bat, right before he comes to fry Harley’s brain.
This violent moment though has a touching connection to the movie. It shows how Harley got her bat and gives a new meaning to her weapon. To her, the bat is a connection to the man she loves and every person she takes down with it is a twisted love note to Joker.
Batman v Superman: A Darker Side of Superman
According to Snyder, there was a scene cut from Batman v Superman for being too dark. He said, “We had a scene that we cut from the movie where [Superman] tries to look for [Martha] when he finds out that Lex has got her. It was a slightly dark scene that we cut out because it sort of represented this dark side. Because when he was looking for his mom, he heard all the cries of all the potential crimes going on in the city, you know when you look.”
It showed that Superman taught himself to ignore the never-ending cries for help and that he has to be selective about where he chooses to interfere.
Justice League: The Green Lantern Corps
Ever since the announcement of Justice League, fans were speculating that the Green Lantern would make an appearance. We were all eventually disappointed when he was nowhere to be found in the film. However, there actually was supposed to be a glimpse of the Green Lantern Corps at the end of the movie.
An alternate end-credit scene was shot that featured Bruce Wayne at his lake house. During the scene, he’s also visited by Kilowag and Tomar-Re, two members of the Green Lantern Corps. This deleted scene would’ve provided great fan service and ultimately set up the Green Lantern’s arrival in future movies.
The Dark Knight Rises: The Demise of Foley
Although most people agree that The Dark Knight Rises was an impeccable movie, there was one moment that caused a bit of controversy among fans. During most of Christopher Nolan’s films, every character had their own arc – even the supporting characters. Foley’s arc follows his decision to eventually stand with Batman to take on Bane. However, this story was cut short with his completely abrupt and awkward ending.
Based on photos and leaked shooting footage, we know that the scene felt incomplete because Foley’s more memorable and played out demise was removed from the final movie. Therefore, he never gets the heroic demise that he deserved and needed to complete his arc.
Batman Forever: Two Face's Escape
After Batman Returns, Batman Forever was a lighter, more family-friendly movie. However, if you check out the film’s deleted scenes, you’ll find it originally had a darker theme.
The movie we saw opened up with Batman gearing up and jumping in his Batmobile to take down Two-Face. However, a deleted scene reveals that the original film opener starts in Arkham Asylum, where we see Harvey Dent escaping his prison cell. After his escape, we see a creepy message scrawled on the wall that reads, “The Bat Must [Pass Away].” Although this movie wouldn’t have changed much of the storyline, it would have created a darker setting for the rest of the movie.
Man of Steel: Jor-El's Robot Fighting Zod's War Dogs
Man of Steel was meant to reveal a lot more of Krypton and a much longer battle sequence that was ultimately deleted from the final cut. The battle showed Kelex, Jor-El’s robot, donning armor and fighting against Zod. However, Zod also had some battle demons of his own.
In the deleted scene, Zod had a pack of genetically engineered war dogs that fought on his side. Eventually, during the battle, Kelex would have blown himself up with some explosives he had in his armor to take down the dogs and allow for Kal-El’s escape.
Lego Batman: The Missing Songs
Lego Batman had the perfect mix of adventure and pure humor. However, this balance may have been disrupted if all of the movie’s original singing numbers were left in the final movie. Originally, there was a Freaky Friday song featuring a swap between the mayor and Batman. The song goes through the mayor’s transformation into becoming Batman and simply wasn’t necessary for the movie.
The director, Chris McKay, also wanted to make the entire movie a musical with each character and villain singing about their life and perspective in the film. This would’ve completely changed the movie and distracted from the story.
Batman v Superman: Superman Investigates the Bat
In Batman v Superman, we see Batman investigating Superman to find a way to overcome his imminent foe. However, we never see Superman’s relationship with Batman because it was removed from the movie.
In one deleted sequence, Clark Kent uses his underused journalism skills to learn about Batman. The scene starts with Kent heading to Gotham to cover a football game but instead seeking out Kahina Ziri. When he finds out she’s gone, Kent reaches out to her neighbors and learns about Batman’s brutality. When he’s warned to leave the city before dark, we see a different side of Batman in the movie and the beginning of Superman’s vendetta against the Dark Knight.
Watchmen: The Fall of Hollis Mason
A deleted scene in Watchmen shows the last minutes of Hollis Mason’s life in a heartfelt and emotional ending. The scene, which can be found in the movie’s director’s cut, shows Nite Owl reminiscing about old times over the phone with Sally Jupiter.
As soon as they hang up, Hollis finds a bunch of thugs at his door telling him that he should’ve stayed retired and contradicts everything that was said on the phone. Hollis puts up an intense fight, despite being outnumbered and we watch as he relives his glory years through each fighting punch. It’s a powerful piece that would’ve increased the emotional value of the movie.
Suicide Squad: All of Joker's Scenes
Although fans were split about their feelings towards Jared Leto’s Joker, we all agree that his character’s role in Suicide Squad was cut short. He steals the show from the villainous team, but we never get to see much of his character. This is because a lot of Joker’s scenes were deleted for being too violent, as they showed him being villainous just for the fun of it.
In an extended scene, we see Joker taking down a guard with his bare hands after finding out a bomb didn’t take him out, and a longer scene with Monster T showed Joker and Harley’s manic tendencies and a collection of watches from their previous victims.
Justice League: Cyborg's Football Scene and Reunion with His Mother
All we know about Cyborg from Justice League is that he was brought back to life as a half-robot, half-man by his scientist father. However, deleted scenes from the movie show that we were supposed to have seen a lot more from the character.
We were supposed to see his past life and his rising career as a football star. Ray Fisher also recounted a scene that was originally included where his character has a reunion with his mother. Ultimately a lot of Cyborg’s story was cut out of the movie, but according to Joe Morton, who played Cyborg’s father, we might see them in Cyborg’s future solo film.
Batman v Superman: All of Lois' Deleted Scenes
Originally, Zack Synder’s cut of Batman v Superman ran for three hours. The movie was cut down for theatrical release, but that means that a lot of the character arcs and stories were also deleted. One of the characters that suffered from the film’s cutdown was Lois Lane.
In the original cut, there was a much longer scene in Nairomi where we get to truly see Lois’ role in the movie. For the first time, the film focused on Lois without the Man of Steel and gave her an interesting story to follow. However, since much of these scenes were cut, Lois seemed to just randomly pop up whenever it was convenient for Superman’s character arc.
Batman Forever: Batman Gets Amnesia
About halfway through Batman Forever, the Riddler and Two-Face storm into Wayne Manor and shoot Mr. Wayne. Bruce simply shakes it off and continues with his day, but in the original scene, we get something a little odder. In the alternate scene, the bullet gives Bruce selective amnesia. He remembers his life as Bruce Wayne but completely forgets about his crime-fighting alter ego.
Eventually, Alfred sends Bruce into a cave where he discovers his parents’ diary and all of his memories come rushing back to him in a form of a giant bat. The scene was extremely weird and it was taken out of the final movie for the better.
Suicide Squad: Joker Bargaining with the Enchantress
After Joker’s helicopter crashed, rumor has it that there was a scene where the villain makes a deal with Enchantress. This deal would’ve allowed him to take Harley home and become King of Gotham, but Harley wasn’t down with the plan. She refuses to betray her new squad and backs out of the deal.
This scene would’ve shown the complete cycle of Harley’s arc and developed her as her own character. It would’ve also shown a change in her relationship with Joker and removed a lot of the negative views that she’s the way she is because of her connection to Joker.
Batman v Superman: Luthor and Steppenwolf
Steppenwolf made his debut in Justice League as he hunted for the Mother Boxes. However, his DCEU introduction was supposed to have happened a movie earlier. Entitled “Communion,” a deleted scene from Batman v Superman showed approaching a Kryptonian ship. When they arrive, they find Lex Luthor standing before a mysterious figure with three floating boxes in front of him.
This mysterious creature we now know is Steppenwolf and the cubes in front of him are the Mother Boxes he’s attempting to collect in Justice League. Ultimately this scene was taken out of the movie because it was too reminiscent of MCU movies. However, it would’ve provided a nice foreshadow and warning of things to come.
The Dark Knight Rises: Bane's Origin Story
One of Bane’s best and most interesting qualities is that he is a man shrouded in mystery. We don’t know much about his backstory and that is because it was deleted from the movie.
Originally, director Christopher Nolan shot a Bane flashback sequence that showed audiences the villain’s extensive background. In the scene, we see Bane being injured at a young age and learn how he got his iconic scar. The scene also reveals the villain’s training from the League of Shadows and earlier versions of his mask and waist belt.
Justice League: Darkseid's Reveal
We’ve all been waiting for the reveal of Darkseid in the DCEU and we almost got it in Zack Snyder’s version of Justice League. Apparently, there was an original scene in the movie where Steppenwolf tries to tempt Superman through a vision. In the vision, we also would’ve seen Darkseid for the first time.
Then, in an alternate end-scene, Steppenwolf is defeated by the Justice League and forced to return to Apokolips a failure. At this point, Darkseid punishes Steppenwolf by destroying him and pledges to go to Earth to meet “the Kryptonian” This scene was likely changed because it was too dark, or because it’s too similar to the Thanos’ introduction in the MCU.
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Do you think any other deleted scenes would have changed the course of DC movies? Let us know in the comments!
Fan art by Bhavesh Panchal.