These ‘Batman V Superman’ Villains Almost Made It Into ‘Dawn Of Justice’: Zack Snyder Explains His Decision

A couple of potential Batman v Superman villains were almost included in the film which hits theaters next Friday. Until now, most of the attention has been on Superman (Henry Cavill), most likely due to it being a follow-up to Man of Steel.

No, Dawn of Justice isn’t a sequel any more than Avengers was a sequel to Iron Man. It happens in the same fictional universe, and happens to feature the same character played by the same actor, but it’s not a sequel.

With the returning focus on Superman, it’s obvious that Zack Snyder wanted to bring in more villains related to him as we finally witness him and the caped crusader on the screen at the same time. This pairing is a historic event due to the two most popular members of the Justice League having never shared live action movie time together.

The closest we came up to this point was an Easter egg found in Rocksteady’s Batman: Arkham Knight, where the LexCorp billboard was clearly visible as the gamer made their way to Wayne Tower. The recent revelation of two Batman v Superman villains who didn’t make it to the final cut tells us that Snyder felt it was too much already to have Lex Luthor (Jesse Eisenberg), a deceased General Zod (Michael Shannon), and Doomsday sharing the screen with some staple Batman villains.

Who are these missing Batman v Superman villains?

Tim Burton was the first to use them both in his series, with Jack Nicholson and Jim Carrey playing the notorious roles. Of course, now with Suicide Squad featuring Jared Leto in one of the roles, it means that whoever would have played the Riddler this time is unknown.

Yes, Joker and Riddler almost made it into the film. However, with so many heroes and villains already being re-introduced, it is already a potential mistake, as previously reported by the Inquisitr.

Zack Snyder explained his decision.

“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.”

This also means that Jared Leto may have actually been Zack Snyder’s choice to play Joker, and Suicide Squad would have had another connection besides Batman. The choice to focus on Superman villains in Batman v Superman: Dawn of Justice would also have left Wonder Woman (Gal Gadot) and Aquaman (Jason Momoa) without dedicated villains for the film, showing an obvious favor for the more popular heroes.

These Two Batman Villains Came Close to Being in ‘Batman v Superman’ https://t.co/SGGvufP40T

— The Black Screen™ (@blackscreenmag) March 20, 2016

It’s possible that when Ben Affleck’s superhero directorial debut happens, Batman will have the missing Batman v Superman villains to deal with. Ben may even be teaming up with another Robin as he races around Gotham to take down Joker and Riddler in the wake of Doomsday’s wrath.

This is all depending, of course, on Batman v Superman and its villains not failing to impress the fans. Man of Steel was a mix of reviews, some calling it confusing while others called it the best Superman movie in years. Hopefully, Zack Snyder has a surprise hit, and the Dawn of Justice shines brightly enough for a welcome sequel and plenty of spin-offs.

What do you think? Will Batman v Superman be the superhero epic Zack Snyder is expecting it to be?

[Image via Warner Bros. Pictures]