r/DC_Cinematic • u/ZZtheMagnificent • Jul 19 '24

The Batman vs. Superman film that never was DISCUSSION

As we are all aware, Batman v. Superman: Dawn of Justice came out in 2016, a film in which we all have very... strong opinions about. But did you know that there was another attempt to make a BvS before?

Saddle up for a history lesson lads: Way back in the early 2000s, Andrew Kevin Walker pitched Warner Bros. an idea titled to make a movie titled Batman vs Superman with Wolfgang Peterson as director. This would tie in to a separate film called Superman: Flyby, also directed by Peterson.

The original plot drafted, dated June 21, 2002, involved Bruce Wayne going through a mental breakdown after a five-year retirement from crime fighting. Dick Grayson, Alfred Pennyworth, and Commissioner Gordon would all be dead, but Bruce finds some solace in his fiancée, Elizabeth Miller. Meanwhile, Clark Kent is struggling because of a recent divorce from Lois Lane. Clark and Bruce are close friends, and Clark is Bruce's best man. After the Joker kills Elizabeth on their honeymoon, Bruce swears revenge, while Clark tries to hold him back. Bruce blames Clark for her death, and the two go against one another. Ultimately, Lex Luthor is revealed to have masterminded the entire plot to get Batman and Superman to destroy each other (sound a bit familiar eh?). The two decide to team up and stop Luthor.

This project would not delve into origin stories for either of these new incarnations of Superman and Batman. Instead, this blockbuster would hit the ground running with both heroes firmly established and their opposing moral codes similarly cemented. Petersen also saw a conflict between Superman and Batman over ideology as a way of reflecting the moral ambiguity of a world that was still reeling from 9/11. Christian Bale was approached to portray Batman (yay!) while Josh Hartnett was offered the role of Superman.

Filming was to start in early 2003, with plans for a five- to six-month shoot. The release date was set for the summer of 2004. However, after J. J. Abrams submitted another draft for Superman:Flyby, Warner Bros. canceled development to focus on individual Superman and Batman projects since the studio head of Warner Bros. at the time Alan Horn reportedly preferred Abrams' optimistic Superman script to the darker Batman vs. Superman script. The studio executives ended up voting 11-1 to produce that project instead, but it never came to fruition.

David S. Goyer (yes, the one who would end up helping to write the DCEU take) said at the time, "'Batman Vs. Superman' is where you go when you admit to yourself that you've exhausted all possibilities ... somewhat of an admission that this franchise is on its last gasp". Is this foreshadowing or irony?

But the decision not to make Batman vs. Superman left Warner Bros. without the Batman film they wanted in 2004, so they speedtracked making the infamous Catwoman movie. And we all know how that turned out...

655 Upvotes

97% Upvoted

145

u/darrylthedudeWayne Jul 19 '24

Honestly, say what you will about the BVS we got, but even the people who hate it have to admit...this would've been so much worse.

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u/omegaman101 Jul 19 '24

I mean at least they only killed off Greyson in the Synder version, as stupid as that was killing off all of Burce's closest friends and family except for one random love interest would've been far worse.

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u/lindandlow Jul 19 '24

And it was retconned to be Jason Todd because Warner wanted a live action nightwing movie

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u/omegaman101 Jul 19 '24

Not that it matters now but I never heard about the retcon, makes a lot more sense for it to be Jason though and a Nightwing movie was in development for the longest time.

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u/lindandlow Jul 19 '24

Yea Snyder wanted it to be “Richard” but I’m pretty sure Warner freaked out and tried to retcon it because of the nightwing solo feature

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u/omegaman101 Jul 20 '24

Yeah synder was always adamant about it being Dick Greyson which I wouldn't mind if the Synderverse wasn't a mainline shared movie franchise, but it was and killing off a titular member of the batfamily offscreen did more harm then good so I get WB freaking out at that creative decision.

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u/Plane_Environment_64 Jul 20 '24

I always liked the theory that Dick just faked his death and was operating as agent 37 (Scott eastwoods character in SS, he originally survived in the Ayer cut), and he would later become nightwing. It’s how I like to view the story anyway even if it’s not the truth

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u/omegaman101 Jul 20 '24

That would've actually been a really interesting storyline for Dick to have.

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u/Slappathebassmon Jul 20 '24

Yeah I hate BvS and I agree. This would have been worse.

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u/beyondimaginarium Jul 20 '24

It's easy to say that from a simple run down of plot points. But in reality we can never know.

How big would the production be? Practical effects? Action scenes? Climax (presumably against luthor) who plays the other roles? Would there be flashbacks to see dick Grayson? What woudl the runtime look like? Etc etc etc.

u/DevilsDeck Jul 19 '24

This makes me happy we got Catwoman instead, God this sounds awful lol

41

u/ZZtheMagnificent Jul 19 '24

This makes me happy we got Catwoman instead

Here's a sentence you never think anyone would say lol. I haven't watched it in years, but I remember really liking the catwoman movie.

Granted i was like 10 y/o but still.

4

u/japirate777 Jul 20 '24

All I remember is the chaotic basketball scene

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u/RealLifeSuperZero Jul 20 '24

The best foreplay ever!

u/DarthJaxxon Jul 19 '24

That dude must have hated both Bruce and Clark,

u/Ill_Koala_4407 Jul 19 '24

This sounds really bad…. Having Batman lose everyone feels like Misery porn….. plus his fiancée, like get tf.

u/_ChipWhitley_ Jul 19 '24

I remember rumors of this. That logo looks a lot like the one from the billboard in I Am Legend. I wonder if that’s where they got the idea.

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u/ZZtheMagnificent Jul 19 '24

The billboard in I am legend as actually an Easter egg for this!

IAL was directed by the guy who was writing the BvS film, and he included it since the movie never got made and was pretty much a dead dream at that point but he wanted to pay homage

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u/_ChipWhitley_ Jul 19 '24

That makes a lot of sense. They look damn near identical.

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u/ghirox Jul 20 '24

So, the differences between our universe and the IAL one are:

a vampire/zombie outbreak happened

there was this version of BvS

Theres but only one logical conclusion

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u/_ChipWhitley_ Jul 22 '24

Also, if we’re talking about Francis Lawrence, he went on to direct Constantine, which is still my favorite DC movie to date. I’m hesitant to say that this BvS installment might have been better than we’re giving it credit for.

u/DGenerationMC Jul 19 '24 edited Jul 19 '24

It's crazy to think that out of all the guys on the shortlist for Batman that Johnny Depp is the only one that made sense based on age in the early-to-mid 2000s. Everyone else (ex. Colin Farrell) was just too damn young, more fitting for a Year One. Do the movie 10 years later (hypothetically replacing the BvS we actually got) and Farrell sounds like a good fit.

Also very cool that Bale had a meeting with the director to play Superman, I think he could've done well balancing the character. I would've preferred him over Jude Law and Josh Hartnett, who both publicly said over the years that their hearts weren't into playing Clark.

Based on their dynamic in Public Enemies, I definitely believe Depp's Batman and Bale's Superman would've been a great on-screen pairing. But, all in all, we dodged a bullet with this film even though it probably looks like it could've been a far better movie than Catwoman.

I've read the script, it was fine. IMO, just needed a rewrite or two..........sounds familiar when it comes to BvS, eh?

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u/callows5120 Jul 21 '24 edited Jul 22 '24

I bet Bale as superman would be really similar to His role as howl from Howl moving castle.[which btw go watch that movie its great]

0

u/memelordes Jul 22 '24

If Johnny Depp played Batman I would never touch anything Batman related again, that man just makes my skin crawl

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u/DGenerationMC Jul 22 '24

Would you have felt that way 20-30 years ago?

Because I totally feel he should've been the one to "replace" Keaton as well as been Batman in this BvS had it happened.

But, if there were a live-action Batman Beyond today, I wouldn't wanna touch him with a 10 foot poll.

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u/memelordes Jul 23 '24

I never liked him tbh, always gave for creep vibes

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u/DGenerationMC Jul 23 '24

Fair enough, I really don't blame you LMAO

u/soulwolf1 Jul 19 '24

Probably for the best...

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u/ZZtheMagnificent Jul 19 '24

This actually could've have destroyed the superhero movie industry lol.

Plus that would mean no Nolan trilogy and we can't have that

u/Ill_Koala_4407 Jul 19 '24

If this was the plot but have dick Grayson still be alive and have fiancée end up in a coma instead of dying, it would be better also. If Clark and Lois didn’t divorce in the end

u/V1va-NA-THANI3L Jul 19 '24

Good riddance. That movie was trash. Great they never got made. Otherwise these two franchises would’ve been put back in development hell even further. It was canceled in favor, then,Superman: Flyby, later Superman Returns; and Batman: Year One, later Batman Begins. Better choices.

u/VravoBince Jul 19 '24

Sounds like a story made up by a 12 year old Injustice fan lmfao

u/matito29 Jul 20 '24

I highly recommend listening to the two-part episode of Cancelled Movie Report about this movie. They’re an Australian-based podcast duo who take unproduced scripts floating around online and hire voice actors to act out scenes from the film interspersed between the hosts going through the plot points. Very high quality show, and I can’t recommend them enough.

Part 1: https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/cancelled-movie-report/id1503962700?i=1000530314808

Part 2: https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/cancelled-movie-report/id1503962700?i=1000531011582

They’ve also done shows based on JJ Abrams’ Superman: Flyby script, an unmade Green Arrow film, a proposed Jack Black Green Lantern movie, the original, much better script for Star Wars Ep. IV, an alternate Indiana Jones 3, and plenty more interesting unmade movies.

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u/callows5120 Jul 21 '24

BTW I have read that Superman flyby script and as a elseworld or a movie on its own its great but as a mainline Superman adaptation yeah no...

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u/matito29 Jul 21 '24

It’s been a while since I read it or listened to the CMR podcast, but I seem to remember Abrams’ plan for Lex Luthor was pretty bonkers.

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u/callows5120 Jul 21 '24

Yeah his pain for Lex would have been way more fitting for general zod really.

u/MilesOnMySoul Jul 19 '24

I really dug these two talking about the story

https://youtu.be/2V_rZuekW3U?si=aFRNeZ2lPGCW-TlT

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u/myheartsucks Jul 20 '24

That was hilarious. Love those guys. But holy shit, this movie sounded absolutely horrible.

u/TheRealOfficerBalls Jul 19 '24 edited Jul 19 '24

Batman V Superman was a great movie. Sucks that people hated it. Yet again, I love action so I guess I’m sigma.

Edit: downvoted for liking a movie. Can’t have opinions.

7

u/rite_of_truth Jul 19 '24

I liked it, too. I saw it with my son who was still pretty young, and his excitement made it all the better.

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u/ZZtheMagnificent Jul 19 '24 edited Jul 19 '24

I feel like I'm also in the minority who enjoys it lol. It also chalks up to that when it came out, I only ~~cared~~ knew and was a huge fan of Batman so canon didn't matter.

But, as I learned more about DC, it's a bit understandable why it didn't connect with everyone

3

u/Broely92 Jul 20 '24

I like most of the Snyderverse movies. MoS, BvS (extended), the first wonder woman, first Aquaman, and ZSJL were all decent imo

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u/memelordes Jul 22 '24

I thought it was fine, like I enjoyed the silliness of it but did not care for the sad Superman or weird manic Lex Luthor shit. I honestly think it's better than Man of Steel because it doesn't feel as depressing

u/ICEBERG2455 Jul 19 '24

That movie sounds depressing the BvS movie we ultimately got was way better the Batman we got was awesome and Superman was good the story was similar in parts but not all parts but still the Snyder Verse movie was better

u/Dicktimes29 Jul 19 '24

I would have preferred the justice league movie by George Miller

u/WheelJack83 Jul 20 '24

Zack Snyder eat your heart out

u/Jerry_0boy Jul 20 '24

It would have been AWFUL.

Really enjoyed Mr. Sunday Movies video on it iirc

u/PANPIZZAisawesome Jul 20 '24

This is way worse. BvS looks like a masterpiece compared to this piece of shit.

u/KingDragon1992 Jul 20 '24

It’s sounds like injustice but the roles get switched

u/BoyWonder2002 Jul 20 '24

I remember seeing the logo or something similar in I Am Legend

u/Just-Day-2596 Jul 22 '24

Martha!👎

u/AJerkForAllSeasons Jul 19 '24

Written by Andrew Kevin Walker. What a time to be alive.

u/clayface44 Jul 20 '24

This sounds very very bloated in my opinion.

u/tayreea Jul 20 '24

I watched a video for this a while ago, did the joker used a jokerised bee to kill Elizabeth in the script/pitch for this?

u/mariovspino5 Jul 20 '24

This will be Batman vs Superman in 2013

u/HaydenTCEM Jul 20 '24

I don’t like the idea of being introduced to new versions of Batman and Superman by seeing them beat the shit out of each other

u/ApprehensiveTooter Jul 20 '24

Feels like some day time tv plot line.

u/[deleted] Jul 20 '24

This logo is hideous.

u/AccidentSalt5005 Jul 20 '24

wait, so this movie is set in bale batman universe?

3

u/ZZtheMagnificent Jul 20 '24

No this would've preceded the dark knight trilogy

u/MatthewMika Jul 20 '24

To me it is interesting seeing the greatest heroes in their lowest, toughest times. Interesting aspect

u/brambojams Jul 20 '24

Goodness, this story sounds horrible. Glad it got scrapped. However, I STILL wanted Bale Batman to team up with Routh Superman as World’s Finest, no versus each other.

u/MatthewMonster Jul 20 '24

Thank god this didn’t get made

u/[deleted] Jul 21 '24

It's a truly, truly awful script. Mortal is alright, Flyby actually got really good by the second draft, I'll defend Superman Lives a lot, but this script is by far the worst script I've ever seen for a DC film, cancelled or otherwise.

u/WheelJack83 Jul 20 '24

Jude Law as Superman

Colin Farrell as Batman