Although many know more about the "Justice League" movie that premiered last month, only a few will be familiar with the version that was initially to be brought to the big screen in 2011. Fortunately, the script for what would have been released a year before fellow DC Comics property "The Dark Knight Rises" and Marvel's "The Avengers" has now surfaced online, and it offers a further look into the superhero team's dynamics.
According to Comic Book Movie, the script for the 2011 project was written by Will Beall of "Gangster Squad" with Ben Affleck in talks to direct. However, when Warner Bros. hired Zack Snyder to direct the movie that would become the start of the franchise, "Man of Steel," things shifted and the project was placed in the backburner until last year when "Batman vs. Superman: Dawn of Justice" came out.
Chris Terrio was then hired to write the screenplay after having written the script of the previously mentioned film. Beall's version was then forgotten by many.
The breakdown of Beall's version of "Justice League" recently came up online. It is full of fan-service and very unlikely moments, such as Wonder Woman having a son with Batman named Clark Wayne.
As to why this version never made it to the big screen is unknown. It is likely that Warner Bros. chose Snyder's vision for "Man of Steel" or that this version would have posed a big risk, considering a potentially big budget and the many characters that would appear.
This version of the movie would definitely have had Darkseid as the main villain in place of Steppenwolf, and with John Stewart as the Green Lantern. Lex Luthor would also have had a lot to do, instead of only appearing in the second post-credits scene of the current movie. The script breakdown also details that some characters from last year's "Suicide Squad" would sort of make their introductory appearances, such as Killer Croc and Amanda Waller.
Other characters that were included in Beall's version of the film are KGBeast, Desaad, King Faraday, Tattooed Man, Cheetah, Solomon Grundy, Copperhead and Hawkman — who would be traveling in space alongside John Stewart.
Prior to the movie's premiere several weeks ago, it was long speculated that Superman (Henry Cavill) would be donning his black suit from the comics. However, it was not the case, as the Man of Steel still wore his blue costume.
It has been revealed that it was actually in the plans to have Superman don the black outfit, and the bit was filmed by Snyder before he left the production. Unfortunately, it was cut from the final movie.
Fabian Wagner, who served as the cinematographer of the movie and is among those pushing for Warner Bros. to release a Snyder director's cut, revealed to Inverse that Snyder did film scenes with Superman wearing the black outfit from "The Death of Superman" comics.
That was not the only scene cut from the film. The much-talked-about scene from the trailer that features Alfred (Jeremy Irons) speaking to someone also did not make it. That particular scene drew many theories as to the identity of who he was talking to.
"Justice League" is now showing in theaters.
