JUSTICE LEAGUE Actor Confirms That Joss Whedon Wrote And Directed A Key Batman Scene

JUSTICE LEAGUE Actor Confirms That Joss Whedon Wrote And Directed A Key Batman Scene

Amidst the fan debates of which scenes belong to which director in Justice League, an actor from the film confirms one of the Batman scenes was indeed written and directed by Joss Whedon.

By Stretch - Nov 22, 2017 07:11 PM EST
Filed Under: Justice League
Source: Comic Book
When Joss Whedon took over directing duties from Zack Synder, this expectedly sparked a debate as to who would have more influence over the finished product. A lot of the reason for this discussion is due to the directors having two very different creative styles. Snyder tends to lean towards the dark and melodramatic, while Whedon is more lighthearted and comedic. Well thanks to actor Holt McCallany, we have confirmation of at least one scene of the movie.

The film begins with Batman (Ben Affleck) on a rooftop in Gotham City as he defeats a burglar (Holt McCallany), and is later interrupted by a Parademon. According to McCallany, this opening scene was one of Whedon's reshoots. In an interview with Men's Fitness, McCallany had this to say about the scene:

I love Joss Whedon. My scene with Batman was originally conceived as a comedic scene. That’s how Joss wrote it, and that’s how we shot it. I thought it came out great, but the studio felt it would be a mistake to open the film with a completely comedic scene, so it was re-edited a little bit. I was disappointed, but when I got home to New York I found a bottle of my favorite Champagne and a note from Joss that said ‘To Battles Lost. Gratefully, Joss.’ I can’t tell you how much it meant to me that he took the time to write to me. Joss Whedon is a class act. I had the letter framed.”

McCallany also shared his experience shooting the scene:

"It was a great experience, and a fun scene to shoot. Ben [Affleck] was very easygoing, we got it in just a few takes," the actor confessed. "My favorite fight scenes are usually ones that are choreographed with some style to them, and ones that are choreographed around a particular actor’s individual strengths. The old adage in the fight game is 'styles make fights.' I like to design my own fight choreography in conjunction with my director and stunt coordinator whenever possible, and here it was a great way to be a part of the film—even though I got beat by Batman."

One of the biggest complaints fans and critics had with Man of Steel and later Batman V Superman was that the films, true to Synder's directorial style, were overly dark and moody. Many felt that this tone made for a poor portrayal of the some of the characters, specifically Superman. Synder had already lightened the tone of the movie, before he had to leave in May due to a family tragedy. Whedon took over for Synder, and he was put in charge of reshoots and post production.

Justice League is in theaters now.
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Forthas
Forthas - 11/22/2017, 9:11 PM
Why is everyone stressing over who did what scene? Do people stress over which Russo Brother did whatever scene in Civil War? What is this information going to change?
ELAYEM
ELAYEM - 11/22/2017, 9:23 PM
@Forthas - It's a little different. Russos are a team with the same vision and style. Whereas Snyder and Whedon are polar opposites, and didn't work together but rather one after the other.
Forthas
Forthas - 11/22/2017, 9:55 PM
@ELAYEM - I see your point, but at the same time I feel like this is a bit of a witch hunt. Its as if people are trying to find someone to "blame." Yeah like everyone else it would be interesting to see What Whedon added but in every thread people are blaming one or the other director and in my mind they are both equally responsible.
ELAYEM
ELAYEM - 11/22/2017, 10:23 PM
@Forthas - Oh yeah definitely.
The people that loved BvS naturally hate Whedon's changes to Snyder's movie, and the people that hated BvS see Whedon's involvement as a positive.
I think both sides mostly agree though that WB negatively chopped it up to fit a 2 hour runtime, and that the CGI looked pretty awful.
CaptDeadpool
CaptDeadpool - 11/22/2017, 9:15 PM
I liked Justice League. My third favorite Cbm this year
darkboy
darkboy - 11/22/2017, 10:30 PM
@CaptDeadpool - Wow
CaptDeadpool
CaptDeadpool - 11/22/2017, 10:43 PM
@darkboy - lol why “wow”? It had a bunch of flaws and there were moments I straight up despised but it was a damn fun movie. This year for me:
1)Ragnorok
2)Logan
3)Justice League
4)Homecoming
5)Wonder Woman
Scrugulus
Scrugulus - 11/23/2017, 9:47 AM
@CaptDeadpool - For me it looks more like this:

1)Thor - Ragnarok
2)Spiderman - Homecoming
3)Guardians of the Galaxy, Vol. 2
4)Justice League
5)Wonder Woman


But there is not much of a difference between Justice League and Wonder Woman. They are both an 8 out of 10 for me.

What made you put Justice League above Spiderman?
Aangatang
Aangatang - 11/23/2017, 1:23 PM
@CaptDeadpool - youre not allowed to like JL!
1) homecoming
2) ragnorok
3) JL
4) WW
5) Logan

There, its my third too
CaptDeadpool
CaptDeadpool - 11/23/2017, 3:05 PM
@Scrugulus - Homecoming was a big miss for me. Wasn’t terrible, I enjoyed Keaton and Holland’s portrayals but not the story. Tired of everything having to be because of something Tony Stark did, and “Flash Thompson” was infuriatingly miscast. Wasn’t one of the worst cbms but I would prefer an older Peter Parker story.

@Aangatang Logan was last???? I definitely think it was wildly over rated but not worst of the year!!
CaptDeadpool
CaptDeadpool - 11/23/2017, 3:07 PM
Forgot GotG2! That would be my third favorite
Aangatang
Aangatang - 11/24/2017, 8:45 PM
@CaptDeadpool - Fair enough. I suppose because I'm unfamiliar with the comics I had no expectations of the characters in Homecoming... And I enjoyed Logan, just not a great deal.
ELAYEM
ELAYEM - 11/22/2017, 9:16 PM
WB can really [frick] up editing these DC Films, but it seems they have the right idea for the tone going forward. They know Snyder is too cynical and angsty for Superman, but they also know Whedon unleashed will be too comedic. Looks like they know the right middle ground going forward.

A little reassuring.
Spock0Clock
Spock0Clock - 11/22/2017, 9:26 PM
@ELAYEM - My concern is that I don't know who "they" is at this point.

I like to be able to put a name to a face.
ELAYEM
ELAYEM - 11/22/2017, 9:50 PM
@Spock0Clock - I think "they" is Geoff Johns and Jon Berg, but the guy responsible for cutting up the films and just generally being awful for DC Films is Kevin Tsujihara
Spock0Clock
Spock0Clock - 11/22/2017, 9:24 PM
It has all the hallmarks of Whedon. Considering the studio probably told him: "We've got 30 minutes of exposition we're going to cut", this was an efficient (and ham-fisted) way to start the movie off.

And nobody is as efficient and ham-fisted as Joss Whedon when he needs to establish a plot point.
Darlene1974
Darlene1974 - 11/22/2017, 9:25 PM
Well, how it was, was so good. I loved it... Wished it was couple minutes longer. Batman handled the parademon pretty well. Ben was a good Batman
TheBigkahuna
TheBigkahuna - 11/22/2017, 9:30 PM
seemed Synder original JL movie would've had evil superman being mind controlled WB stepped in and changed wanted more WW feel.
BoW
BoW - 11/22/2017, 10:30 PM
@TheBigkahuna - that's a fake rumour btw.
BatmanBeenDrinking
BatmanBeenDrinking - 11/22/2017, 9:31 PM
the problem is that they had no faith in Zack. Whedons rewrites and reshoots just didn't work and they tried to meld both there styles together and I truly believe if one had completele control it would have came out way better but instead it crashed and burned. I also think they gave Whedon to much control over the final product after Zack Snyders departure and his style of writing tends to be a little more comidic and that just doesn't work with these characters.One of the main things that pissed me off the most was the fact that this isn't the batman I grow up with. Saying dumb and corny jokes . Batman is also someone who tends to be one step ahead of everyone else but here it seem like he was half-assing everything and that includes Superman's Resurrection. One more thing, he shouldn't be having any problems taking care of the minions. the dialogue was so bad at times that it felt like a soap opera. They also tried to change Superman into like the one from cartoons/comics but it felt so out of character. They should have built him up to become that character in man of steel 2. That's something you do over time so it can seem genuine. Now the only thing I want to see is Zack Snyders cut
Brightknight287
Brightknight287 - 11/22/2017, 9:48 PM
@BatmanBeenDrinking - he made Batman a bitch and I am really mad about it plus if you are aware of the original version of Zack, the return of superman would have been awesome. More caracters, more easter eggs, less stupid jokes, more serious and more world building.
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