Last week, Entertainment Weekly revealed that Jena Malone had been cut from the theatrical release of Zack Snyder's
Batman v Superman: Dawn of Justice. Instead, her character will not debut in the DCEU until the R-rated "Ultimate Edition" planned for the film's home video release. The report also stated that Malone was but one of several characters cut from the film who will ultimately provide clues for the direction the DC Extended Universe is headed.
Magazine scans and
screening reviews from WB's marketing department seem to have spoiled the fact that Malone was playing Barbara Gordon in the film, the daughter of Comissioner Gordon who eventually goes on to become Batgirl. But what other characters have joined her on the cutting room floor?
Check out the five likeliest characters that were cut from Batman v Superman: Dawn of Justice. In some cases, these characters are being saved for the R-rated "Ultimate Edition" but in other cases, they might have been cut from the film altogether. Scroll through the list and see if your guesses are as good as mine by clicking
NEXT.
5. KGBEAST
That same
magazine scan which iniitally outed Jena Malone as Barbara Gordon also outed Callan Mulvey as KGBeast. Rumor has it that Jesse Eisenberg's Lex Luthor frames Batman for the murders of several Gotham criminals. Of course, Luthor isn't the type to get his hands dirty. Instead, he reportedly hires KGBest to frame The Bat, setting up Superman's motivation to take The Dark Knight down.
Mulvey has been pretty tight-lipped regardin his role in Dawn of Justice. That's pretty impressive, considering Mulvey was announced as part of the cast back in April 2014. More importantly, if Mulvey's Anatoli Knyazev does make the theatrical cut, what are the chances we'll see him don his classic costume?
4. COMMISSIONER GORDON
For practically the entire time that Batman v Superman: Dawn of Justice was in production, the rumor that Comissioner Gordon was dead in the new DCEU universe was pretty much considered true, despite the fact that it was never confirmed. We now know that rumor is false as J.K. Simmons was cast in the role for Justice League: Part One.
Besides Alfred (Jeremy Irons) it seems we're not going to get a look at much of Batman's supporting cast in Dawn of Justice. Or Wonder Woman's (Gal Gadot) for that matter. In contrast, practically all of Superman's supporting cast will play significant roles in the film which makes me wonder how someone could say Dawn of Justice isn't a true sequel to Man of Steel.
3. ROBIN
There's a bullet-riddled Robin costume in the Batcave in Dawn of Justice, but no Robin. Earlier this year, rumors surfaced that Zack Snyder's son, Eli, would play the Boy Wonder in Batman v Superman but the director was quick to laugh off such reports. If Eli Snyder isn't playing Robin, was someone else cast in the role?
Aside from the costume, there's not a whole lot of informaton about Robin in Dawn of Justice - aside from the fact that he's dead. Based on the spraypraint on the costume, it looks as if the Joker (Jared Leto) was the one who took him down. But did he murder Jason Todd, Tim Drake or Dick Grayson? Snyder and Geoff Johns were very careful not to reveal the identity of whose Robin suit that is in the Batcave, leading me to believe they might be tinkering with comic book canon.
2. GREEN LANTERN
Dan Amboyer has been rumored to play Hal Jordan in Dawn of Justice for quite some time. However, producer Greg Silverman indicated that Green Lantern might not show up until Justice League: Part Two. "[Green Lantern] is an incredible character. He’s actually multiple incredible characters...We didn’t do a great job on that first Green Lantern movie. This is a character who deserves to be treated in the same way that Batman and Superman and Wonder Woman are being treated now, which is with great reverence...Every beat of the movie is not yet worked out. So there’s the possibility that he may or may not be in Justice League 2. For now, we felt that we were introducing enough characters that the best possible place we could put Green Lantern is some introduction in Justice League 2, or barring that, a movie after."
Does Silverman's comments mean that Amboyer has been cut from the film? It wouldn't be the first time a Green Lantern was cut from a DC Comics superhero film. Nick Jones Jr. was cast to play John Stewart in Ryan Reynolds' Green Lantern film but was cut after filming several scenes. Could the same thing happen to Amboyer?
1. BATGIRL/ORACLE
Jena Malone has been cut from the film and she'll appear in the R-Rated "Ultimate Edition" that will be released on home video. That's a fact...or is it? Could this report all just be a red herring, a way to throw expectant comic book fans off the trail? Though Malone likely won't physically appear in the film, does that mean we won't hear her voice? After all, Oracle is a character who traditionally plays a coordination/support role for the Bat-family, similar to what Alfred is doing at the start of the final trailer. Perhpas Affleck's Batman will need someone with more hacking skills instead of paramilitary tactics?
An interesting theory but do we know for certain that Malone is playing Oracle? Killing a Robin and crippling Batgirl is a lot to throw at viewers right away - even for the Joker. Perhaps a more interesting route to explore is why she potentially no longer suits up as Batgirl? In an effort to understand Batman, could Alfred send Superman to see all of Batman's former sidekicks to better understand the toll Bruce Wayne's war on Gotham's criminal underbelly has taken?
Do you think there are any other candidated for characters who will be exclusive to the R-rated, "Ultimate Edition"? Red Hood, Nightwing, Red Robin, Catwoman and a whole host of Batman support characters are also prime candidates. Then there's also that Omega-symbol glimpsed in Batman's nightmare. Could WB have already cast the role of Darkseid? Justice League: Part One filming is already underway.