Imagine a DCEU film universe where the Joker spent all of Suicide Squad inside a jail cell, Bizarro was used in Batman v Superman instead of Doomsday and Justice League ended with a Green Lantern arriving to warn of Darkseid's impending invasion.
These rumors and more were at one time considered likely outcomes for the Batman v Superman, Suicide Squad, Wonder Woman and Justice League. However, none of these fan-approved rumors ultimately came to pass and the current state of the DCEU leaves many to wonder if the Justice League will ever assemble again. And with a Flashpoint movie looming and a series of out-of-continuity films also in development, WB may ultimately shutter the DC Films Universe just as Marvel Studios prepares to cut loose with Phase 4 of its cinematic universe.
Take a look at the list below and see if you recall the day many of these rumors were posted and if you think they would have made for a better DCEU.
10. Bizarro Used Instead Of Doomsday in Batman v Superman
One of the earliest rumors for Zack Snyder's Batman v Superman: Dawn of Justice had Bizarro occupying Doomsday's role in the film. Arguably, the biggest gripes fans had with the film was the underpowered and poor CGI rendition of the "Kryptonian boogeyman."
The original rumor pegged Lex Luthor using General Zod's body and the Genesis Chamber to create an alternative take on Bizarro. Would comic book fans have an easier time believing that the trinity of Batman, Superman and Wonder Woman could quickly take down Lex Luthor's mindless brute instead of the Dan Jurgens comic book creation that routinely requires the combined might of the entire Justice League to defeat?
Swapping Brainiac for Doomsday would have also significantly diminished the onus for Superman's death in Dawn of Justice which would have also radically altered Justice League.
9. Lex Holds Aquaman Prisoner And Amanda Waller Has His Trident
Another very early rumor pegged Amanda Waller and Lex Luthor as co-conspirators of sorts. Lex Luthor was stated to have Aquaman locked up in a tank-like prison only for him to gain his freedom by the end of the film.
It's possible the rumor stemmed from an early glimpse of the LexCorp footage Wonder Woman retrieved on the USB but in the end, Arthur Curry was certainly no one's prisoner. Perhaps the more interesting element of this rumor is the insinuation that Lex and Amanda Waller have a working relationship which theoretically creates the foundation for the introduction of Project CADMUS.
8. The Joker Spends All Of Suicide Squad Sitting In A Prison Cell
Imagine a Suicide Squad film with Jared Leto's Joker where he never leaves his prison cell. No club scene, no weird barking or pointless overhead shots, just Gotham's Clown Prince of Crime sinisterly sitting in the middle of a prison cell, isolated from the rest of the Belle Reeve inmates because he's deemed too dangerous.
7. Rick Flag Sr. Is The Real Villain Of Suicide Squad
Though Joel Kinnamon's Rick Flag was still slated to join Task Force X to watch over his girlfriend, June Moon, Suicide Squad was at point rumored to see the team deployed to stop Flag's father. Ed Harris was rumored to be playing Flag Sr and even confirmed in an interview that he'd had some discussions with Joel Kinnaman about the film.
It was reported that Flag Jr. would be revealed to secretly be in league with his father and that their end goal was access to the Red Room and its weapons. With the massive amount of script changes in Suicide Squad was there a version of the film where this rumor actually proved true?
6. Deadshot Killed Captain Boomerang's Father
Jai Courtney's Captain Boomerang was one of the better parts of David Ayer's Suicide Squad but the Australian actor 's character didn't exactly have a meaningful impact on the movie's outcome. Boomerang could be replaced with any other longtime Suicide Squad member and the film would have turned out exactly the same.
Providing some tension between the Flash rogue and Deadshot would have given some justification for Boomerang's Task Force X membership.
5. Amanda Waller Is Keen on Tracking Down Batman For Access To His Computer
Another rumor from Suicide Squad stated that Viola Davis wanted intel on Batman to learn his secret identity and blackmail him into turning over his files on the world's metahuman population. That's right, there was a popular rumor that it wasn't Lex Luthor who was obsessed with a metahuman thesis but Bruce Wayne.
That was supposedly the reason behind why Waller had more Batman villains than any other rogues on Task Force X. Waller was stated to have deployed the Squad to bring in the Joker (using Harley Quinn as bait), who would give Waller the most intel on how Batman operated.
4. Ares Needed The Powerful Godkiller Sword To Take Over Olympus
Like Batman v Superman and Suicide Squad, there were a ton of rumors swirling around Wonder Woman but there were very few that would have resulted in a substantial alteration of the DCEU landscape.
One prevalent rumor surrounding the film's production was that Ares needed a magic sword to dethrone Zeus and take over Olympus. However, to power it, the God of War would need to start World War III. This rumor implies that Wonder Woman would have a significant amount of the film take place in the present day and that the Gods of Olympus are still around.
Given what was depicted in Justice League, it's possible that if the Greek Gods were still around, they may have once again intervened when Steppenwolf launched another attack. At the very least, Wonder Woman would have traveled to Olympus to beseech their aid.
3. Bruce Wayne Give The Flash A New Suit In Justice League
A fun, if somewhat harmless rumor was that Bruce Wayne would supply The Flash with a new suit to replace the makeshift costume Ezra Miller's Barry Allen had cobbled together from stolen NASA material. It wouldn't have altered the film's outcome at all but would have been a nice momentum push into the Flash's own solo film, which has done nothing but tread water for years.
2. Justice League Would Expand On The Batman v Superman Knightmare Scene
Even after Justice League rolled into theaters and the details of Steppenwolf and Apokolips' connection to Earth were revealed, there's still not a lot known about the Knightmare sequence from Dawn of Justice. What happened to the rest of the Justice League in that timeline? This question and more remains unanswered as the decision to nix the two-part plans for Justice League likely saw a lot of these elements removed.
1. Justice League Ends On A Cliffhanger As A Green Lantern Arrives To Warn Of Darkseid's Approach
As previously mentioned, just like Avengers: Infinity War and Avengers 4, Justice League was initially envisioned as a two-part installment before WB nixed that idea. It was widely reported that the League would defeat Steppenwolf only for a Green Lantern to appear and warn that Darkseid was approaching with the full might of Apokolips behind him.
As it currently stands, Justice Leauge ended with Steppenwolf defeated and with Batman and co. free to go their separate ways instead of expanding their roster in preparation of a greater foe.