Over the next few days you're going to be seeing and hearing a lot from Zack Snyder as Batman v Superman: Dawn of Justice opens this week. He's currently making the press rounds and as usual he's fielding questions on a variety of topics related to the DC Universe. Collider wanted to know about other villains that nearly made it into 'Batman v Superman', and Snyder replied that there were two key Bat-villains that almost made the cut...
"The Joker and The Riddler both came close to being in this movie. We talked about the possibility of putting them in. [Screenwriter] Chris Terrio and I talked about it a lot and felt that their mythological presence is felt in the movie and that’s cool, but I didn’t want to get my eye too far off the ball because I needed to spend the time, frankly, with Batman and Superman to understand the conflict."
The Joker obviously did make the cut...for Suicide Squad, played by Jared Leto. But we've already seen in trailers that his impact on Batman has been felt. As for Riddler, he hasn't been played by anybody on the big screen since Jim Carrey's version two decades ago. Considering how important Batman is to the entire DCU that could be about to change.
Ultimately, leaving both out was probably the right move. There are already a ton of characters and conflicts to contend with, not to mention teasing Snyder's upcoming Justice League films, which have been split into 'Part One' and 'Part Two'. But is that how it will remain? Probably not, and Snyder teased new titles for the films while discussing his progress on the production...
"Right now the working title is Justice League. Actually, I’m in that phase where I’ve been drawing logos and I’ve been drawing title treatments and stuff like that to try and figure out what it means, what Justice League is, visually, so we’ll see if the name evolves with this visual presentation."
He also revealed two notable DCU cities that will be part of the Justice League story, and really they should come as no surprise...
"The schedule’s close, it’s not quite as long, but give or take. We have a more efficient machine in England because we have a big backlot that we built for Gotham and Metropolis, so it’ll be easier to photograph than when you have to close down streets. But it’s a beautiful backlot."
The world premiere of 'Batman v Superman' was last night and so far the reviews have been strong. We'll find out for ourselves if the DCU is on sure footing when it opens on March 25th.
