For various reasons, there are scenes that are cut from the final release. This happens with both movies and TV shows, as it is all part of the average production. The reasons for scenes being cut varies, such as preserving a certain runtime or scenes in question not being well filmed and executed as hoped. These scenes may just be extra gags, deleted or expanded plot points and even alternate versions of scenes that do take place in the final release.
The following features a long of list of deleted scenes from the released films of the DC Extended Universe. These deleted scenes can be spotted in trailers, TV spots, interviews, behind-the-scenes footage and stills. Many scenes have been featured instead in home media, novelizations, tie-in books or short films.
A longer battle scene on Krypton that would have featured more of Kelex.
Some of this material is shown in the novelization.
Jonathan and Martha hold Clark at the hospital.
A scene with an infant Superman being treated by a pediatrician was filmed but cut. David Goyer explained "There’s a scene, placed between Kal-El’s rocket ship crash-landing in Kansas and an adult Clark working at the fishing boat, where Jonathan and Martha take baby Clark to a pediatrician, because he’s acting strange, due to his superpowers beginning to develop. The doctor decides to check baby Clark’s hearing by emitting sounds into his ear canal. Due to the super-hearing, baby Clark lets out a cry that shatters all of the hospital’s windows as well as setting off alarms of all cars nearby. It was filmed, but cut because it felt out of place."[1]
A scene of General Dru-Zod attacking other Earth cities.
A scene with Lois being interrogated by the FBI following Zod's announcement and refusing to talk. [2]
A scene of Clark leaving the church after speaking to Father Leone in which there's dialogue, “I won’t betray them.”, “You already have.” cut. This dialogue was used in the promotional trailer.
After Clark is bullied, Jonathan Kent takes him fishing without telling Martha.
According to Zack Snyder there was also a scene he cut which did not make the Ultimate Edition. "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.” [5]
A flashback sequence similar to the rest of Task Force X's was filmed for Slipknot, but it was removed from the final cut due to time constraints.
Joker was going to be present during the final battle with Enchantress, and would make a deal with her to join her if she made him King of Gotham.
When Joker kills Monster T in the club, Monster T was supposed to kill himself after realizing there was no other way out of whatever the Joker would do to him.
Members of Joker's gang who didn't appear in the assault on Arkham Asylum, including Eyeball Man, Crying Baby Man, a man wearing a musculature-patterned costume, and a man wearing a light-colored burka, would have appeared and the scene would have been longer.
The story of Joker's damaged teeth and "Damaged" tattoo would have been explained; Batman would have beaten Joker in response to the murder of Robin, breaking his teeth, and Joker would have gotten the tattoo as a reminder to Batman of the time he lost control.
The scene where Batman chases Joker and Harley was longer.
Katana would have been controlled by Enchantress to turn on the rest of the squad.
El Diablo was originally going to survive the final battle.
The guards of Belle Reve feeding Killer Croc a dead, rotting pig, which he casually picks up and carries into his corner. Director David Ayer has a cameo as one of the guards in this scene.
An extra shot of Deadshot looking out the window into a rainy night.
An additional line made by The Joker at Van Criss Laboratories in which he says "I cant wait to show you my toys". This scene was featured in promotional trailers.
While on the helicopter, Captain Boomerang notices that Croc doesn't look so good, at which point Croc leans over and pukes his guts out all over the floor of the helicopter.
Deadshot approaches Rick Flag and demands to know who they're in Midway City to rescue.
A scene in which Harley Quinn chases The Joker down on a motorcycle and proclaims her love for him. The Joker is visually annoyed by her presence, but eventually sees promise in her when she pulls a gun on him and uses it on an innocent bystander.
Harley Quinn diagnosing all of the members of the Suicide Squad, much to their annoyance. Katana removes her mask and stares Harley down after she attempts to wrongfully diagnoses her.
An extended scene at the bar in which all characters have more dialogue.
A scene in which Rick Flag reminisces about June Moone.
A deleted epilogue scene shows Etta Candy meeting with Sameer, Charlie and Chief, proposing another mission that involves recovering a very old artifact from western Belgium and delivering it to the Americans. Etta eventually distributes the mission documents and one of them reveals an image of a Mother Box.
This scene is included on Wonder Woman Blu-Ray discs as the short film Etta's Mission.
According to the first main script of the movie, the Mother Box on Themyscira was to activate in the post-credit scene. Assumingly, it would happen after the death of Ares, the last Old God.
The final battle was originally more intimate, but according to director Patty Jenkins, the studio had her add a more epic battle relatively late in production.
Extended scene of Lois Lane waking in the middle of the night and mourning Superman in their apartment.
A scene of Lois stopping to get coffee, before paying her respects at the Superman memorial. A policeman who was supposed to act as her chauffeur throughout the movie says "You don't miss a day, do you?" Snyder himself was intended to have a cameo in this scene.[6]
Extended Aquaman recruitment scene. Additional lines were added by Whedon and some Zack bits were cut.
Extended scene of Wonder Woman saving hostages in London, in which an explosion goes off. One shot of the explosion can still be seen in the first promotional trailer.
Cyborg’s previous life with a scene of him playing football and scoring the winning touchdown, while his mom watches from the stands. The car accident which killed his mom and severely injured himself would have also been shown.
After the attack on the Atlantean Mother Box Stronghold, Aquaman consults with Mera and Vulko over what to do next. Mera entices him to stay as King because she "doesn’t trust Orm". Vulko, however, encourages Aquaman to follow his heart and Aquaman admits he feels responsible to the people on Earth.
Cyborg learning the history of the Mother Boxes, including their discovery by Nazis. [9]
A scene of Cyborg struggling but eventually learning to fly, a small portion of this scene can still be seen in the first promotional trailer.[10]
A quick scene of a Parademon returning to look for a mother box outside the Stone residence, while Cyborg hides behind a wall.
After returning to the Kryptonian Ship, Cyborg sounds the alarm to make sure that all personal are evacuated, while the League carries Superman's coffin inside.
Cyborg saving a cop during the battle in Heroes Park which was much bigger. This scene was shown in the first promotional trailer.[13] An entire military sub-plot including scenes with the villains and an action scene was cut. It was the military that fired on Superman first in which he attacked them in response. [14]
Clark returns to the Kryptonian ship to recover his Supersuit. This scene was including in the Blu-Ray release of Justice League. However an extended scene was filmed in which Clark takes flight as a call back to Man of Steel.
Superman meeting Alfred.
Superman meets with Alfred to find the whereabouts of the League.
Bruce Wayne’s conversation with Diana after Superman returns. He admits he's killed people and Diana tells him that “he’s changed now” but Bruce remains adamant that he can only atone himself by sacrificing his life.
A scene of Batman using a Parademon rifle after the Batmobile is destroyed. [15]
Superman joins the fight and teams up with the League to defeat Steppenwolf. However, he'd be a bit more unhinged.[16] Steppenwolf tries to tempt Superman into joining his army and shows a vision of the Knightmare future. Darkseid is shown on his throne, along with the Hall of Justice in ruins and the Mother Boxes successfully terraforming Earth, but Superman snaps out of it and delivers the final blow to Steppenwolf.
Another version of this scene was filmed when Cyborg tries to separate the Mother Boxes while Heggra keeps trying to talk him away. Cyborg is shown the same Knightmare footage Superman had seen and Steppenwolf then rips Cyborg apart. [17]
"I'm going home to see my Dad"
Aquaman meets Mera and Vulko off the village coast who warn him about Orm. However, Aquaman states he's "going home to see his Dad". [18]
Bruce Wayne and Barry Allen place Victor's “body” in the Batcave and confirm they'll be able to reignite his mechincal parts.
The death of Silas Stone about halfway through the film. The last message that Silas recorded for his son would then play over Justice League's final montage; those lines were instead given to Lois Lane. [19]
An alternate ending in which Darkseid opens a Boom Tube and meets the Justice League. [20]
An after credit scene that was shot in principal photography involved Bruce being woken in the night in his lake house by a green light and being visited by Tomar Re and Kilowog. The scene was cut early on in post-production.
Additional lines added by Whedon in the after credit scene with Lex Luthor and Deathstroke and some Zack bits cut. [21]
Whedon Cut[]
Batman's rooftop fight with the Parademon in Gotham City was originally longer and more comedic, Whedon reportedly wrote 80 new pages of material when he started work on Justice League.
A moment in the Attack on Themyscira in which an Amazon infected with the energy from Steppenwolf's Electro Axe killed herself before turning into a parademon was cut.
VFX reels show deleted lines from Cyborg and Superman.
A flashback scene where a young Arthur Curry gets dared by his friends to swim down and explore a shipwreck. Arthur then gets stuck inside the shipwreck and starts to think he's drowning before he discovers that he is capable of breathing underwater. He then meets Vulko for the first time.
An alternate beginning where Thaddeus Sivana is having Christmas lunch with his family (the scene also includes his mother and two twin sisters who are completely absent in the final cut). Mr. Sivana (who isn't portrayed by John Glover) orders Sid to taking away Thaddeus' magic ball and he runs away in an elevator where he encounters the wizard Shazam. After not being accepted, he returns to his home, where he receives a fist from Sid.
A scene where Billy attempts to escape from the Vasquez home but he's stopped by Mary Bromfield.
An alternate ending where the Shazam family built a new Christmas tree and prepare themselves to fight a new crime.
An alternate "Lighting with my Hands" scene (this time in an anonymous street instead of the Philadelphia Museum of Art). This scene was featured in the trailers.
In the original cut there were more scenes of Harley and Joker's breakup.
According to Ewan McGregor, there was originally a scene featuring Black Mask playing hide and seek with his accomplices in his apartment. This moment would have taken place after returning from the club.[23]
According to director Patty Jenkins, a lot of amazing material was cut from the final film. "The scene of Max and Barbara meeting was just hilarious to film. In fact all of these scenes left so much amazing material on the editing room floor, its sad! They were just so good!"[24]
It should also be noted that the early photo reveals contain scenes that did not make the final cut. Such as Diana staring at television screens and Steve Trevor in the mall looking confused. It is possible the latter actually showed Steve being wished into existence.
A scene depicting the conversion of humans into parademons via cocoons, followed by a fight between the emerging parademons and Batman would have been included, but was never filmed.
Sam Benjamin was reported to have filmed 20-30 minutes worth of scenes for a military subplot that was cut from the theatrical release.
The scene in which Batman and Martian Manhunter met would instead have included the Green Lanterns John Stewart and Kilowog meeting Bruce in an otherwise very similar scene. John Stewart was portrayed by Wayne T. Carr, and the scene was filmed in Zack Snyder's driveway, however Warner Bros. rejected the scene as they had plans for the character of John Stewart.
There was improv with Harley Quinn and Javelin talking about Harley's bowel movement after she brought it up.
Rick Flag insults Amanda Waller's blouse, then claims that she sent him to Corto Maltese to die in retaliation.
A scene in which young Cleo Cazo and an army of rats are holding a candle wake for the deceased original Ratcatcher in a Portugese alleyway was depicted on concept art by Simon Murton but did not appear in the final version of the film.[25]
Silvio Luna discovers that Mateo Suarez murdered some cooks for being second cousins of the Herrera Family and hanged them outside the palace, getting angry with him before Vera informs them about Starro.
An extended version of Harley's arrival at Silvio Luna's palace involved her walking down a line of servants giving various commands, including swapping their faces around, freezing one's eggs, and having one hanged.
King Shark wanders away from the van while the rest of the group are in the club and Ratcatcher 2 uses rats to look for him. Meanwhile Thinker tries to convince Polka-Dot Man to join him, but Polka-Dot Man shoots the Thinker's ear instead. This would have explained why the Thinker had a bandage on his ear for the rest of the movie, and their conversation also confirms that Abner killed his mother.[26]
In a scene before infiltrating in the base of Jotunheim, Milton's truck, driven by Gaius Grieves to transport Task Force X, stops to be impounded by Isabella. Surprised that he has come to work on a Sunday, Grieves explains that President Mateo Suarez sent him personally to drop off space materials. When Isabella is about to open the door slightly, Polka-Dot Man throws some points so that the soldiers decide not to confiscate and let Thinker pass.
Teth-Adam flies over the desert while he is pursued by two ships that order him to descend. Adam, however, hits one of them and causes it to explode. This scene appears in a promotional trailer.
There was initially a second post-credits scene that teased the return of Doctor Fate. The sequence however, ended up being cut from the final release.[28]
A scene where Billy Batson declares "I just threw a truck in a dragon. I love my life." in the middle of a battle with a dragon.[29]
A scene where Pedro Peña does a spoof of the superhero landing, ending up falling inside a hole that he causes on the road before emerging from the hole. The scene was done in early animatics by David F. Sandberg, but he forgot about it when the film was put into production thus causing its exclusion.[30]
An extended version of the scene where Billy Batson reawakens Hespera and she talks briefly about Atlas and how his legacy affects Billy Batson.[31]
An extended version of a conversation scene with Billy and Freddy where they mention Wonder Woman, the Parademon invasion and Gotham City.[32]
A scene in which Mary Bromfield visits some friends' party at night
After discovering the meaning of the word Shazam, Billy Batson says the name, causing him to revert to his normal form.
When the Shazam Family escaped with Hespera, Kalypso attempted to trap them in a chemical bath, although she encountered a worker, whom she brutally murdered with the Staff of the Gods.
Before his final duel against Kalypso, Batson hears the support of the civilians, who began to respect him as a true hero, making Batson happy, who began humming Holding Out for a Hero while throwing lightning bolts.
During the Chase of Al Falcone, the armored car that Al's crew is driving enters a park and begins to cause destruction while Batman chases it from behind with the Batcycle.
After lunch, Nora and Henry Allen are talking about calling Dr. Farber to see if Barry wants to see him when he shows up with his laundry bag in which he has his unconscious younger self inside. He acts strangely and tells his parents that he doesn't owe them an explanation of what is he gonna do next because he is already 18 years old and then goes up to his room where his younger self regains consciousness.
When the Barrys arrive at Wayne Manor and the older Barry notices how the door is open, his younger self tells him what is he doing, to which he responds not to worry since Bruce Wayne is his friend. Inside Wayne Manor, the two look for Bruce and Alfred and eventually they arrive to a room full of armors and swords. The young Barry tries on a samurai armor, telling his older self that he looks like a Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtle, causing his older self to scold him to continue searching for Bruce, telling him that he instead looked like Shredder before the armor falls to the ground.
After Bruce refuses to help the Barrys, they follow him, which the older Barry telling him that if Zod isn't stopped then everyone will die and the younger Barry telling him if he doesn't want to be Batman again and save the day. After Bruce disappears, the frustrated Barrys leave the manor, with the younger Barry throwing a rock at the door they came out of and calling Bruce a "Bat-asshole." Then, the older Barry gets an idea and takes his younger self to a valve that he thinks is the entrance to the Batcave so he can use Bruce's bat things. The older Barry asks his younger self to vibrate like he did in his apartment, but in doing so he gets caught in the middle of the iron and begins to suffer. His older self tells him that iron is denser than floorboards and tells him to think about jiggly things, which makes the young Barry vibrate his molecules free of the iron and open the valve to enter the Batcave.
After entering the Batcave and the older Barry turning on the power of the place, his younger self gets excited and begins to explore the place with his super speed. First going up to the platform where the electric chair would soon be made and then run to some rocks near the waterfall and then run through the water of the cave to reach the control platform and start singing and finally run towards the batmobile platform and almost fall through an abyss.
While Batman and the Barrys board the Batwing towards the Siberian Black Site, the Barrys talk about Batman and the younger Barry explains to his older self about a rumor that says that Batman killed a criminal in front of his son and perhaps that was the reason why he quit. The older Barry surmises that maybe that's why Batman knows so much about time travel and that he wants to fix his mistake before they get to the siberian base.
When the Barrys are discovered by the Siberian scientists and they call in the Siberian mercenaries, after one of them fires a bullet at the older Barry, his younger self tries to stop the bullet with his bare hands and failing, he tries to use a shovel to stop it but the shovel ends up being passed through by the bullet.
When entering a container, the young Barry finds a Kryptonian skinsuit, which he takes before meeting with his older self and Batman, asking if Superman is petite. His older self responds that the suit is just stretchy and they continue moving forward.
After the rescue from the Siberian Black Site, back at Wayne Manor, the young Barry grabs a blanket and covers the unconscious Kara Zor-El with it only to stare at her and ask his older self if it was just him or she was getting progressively prettier. After that, Barry admits that he loves her, saying that he finally understands all the songs by the Beetles that aren't about Satan, and describing Kara as an angel despite being an alien.
To regain his powers, Bruce and the Barrys begin modifying an electric chair to recreate the accident that gave the older Barry his powers so he can regain them. On the control platform, Bruce warns the older Barry that there is not enough power in the generator and they will need more juice when Barry comes up with an idea. When Bruce was asked if he remembered that thing Benjamin Franklin said, he responded with "Never confuse motion with action" but Barry corrected him with "Let's go flying a freaking kite."
After Supergirl descends from the storm with a seriously injured Barry, Bruce runs to him to help him and check if he has any heartbeat.
After the Battle at the Chronobowl, when Barry returns to his apartment, he screams in horror for some reason. This scene appears in The Flash's Trailer 1.
Originally, the Batman and Supergirl from the Flashpoint Timeline would be in the Post-Flashpoint Timeline, with Batman replacing the original one and Supergirl replacing Superman. Another alternate scene featured Henry Cavill's Superman accompanying Sasha Calle's Supergirl, along with Gal Gadot's Wonder Woman. However, these scenes were changed due to DC Studios creative reset.[33] The only footage that is had of the original ending is in The Flash's Final Trailer where Supergirl says to someone (possibly Barry) "Are you ready?"
Scenes from both Ben Affleck's and Michael Keaton's Batmen were originally filmed. Both sequences were removed.
Arthur saying the lines: "Our world is changing... The dark cloud has descended upon the undersea kingdom. I feel the tide shifting... I'm supposed to be the king."
Atlanna saying the line "The trident's dark magic is spreading."
In the flashback for the Necrusian War, several scenes were removed.
The trailer showcased Atlan turning away and leaving the Necrusian Palace.
Unused shots of Kordax and Atlan clashing their tridents can also be seen.
A scene with Atlan saying "I've stolen nothing from you brother! All I've ever wanted was for our nations to live in peace with one another", with Kordax replying "Yes, of course, with you ruling over them all."
A scene with Atlan and Kordax running at each other with their armies behind them.
A scene with Black Manta commanding the Necrus Zombies was seen in the Necrus featurette.
An alternative cut of the scene where Peacemaker names all the people that could had been framed instead of his father. In this version Peacamaker includes alternative people, including Super Mario, Ronald McDonald, Mel Gibson and Elvis Presley.
