Justice League‘s opening Batman sequence was originally supposed to be a comedic scene.
As Warner Bros.' Justice League enters its second week in theaters, new details have surfaced about the opening scene. **** McCallany, who played the thug that Batman took out in that scene, revealed to Men’s Fitness that the scene was written and directed by Joss Whedon, and was intended to be much more comedic.
“I love Joss Whedon. My scene with Batman was originally conceived as a comedic scene,” McCallany said.
“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.”
Director Zack Snyder has built a reputation for creating dark and moody films, so when he departed Justice League due to a family tragedy and Joss Whedon stepped in, fans were curious about how Whedon's well-known comedic tone would mesh with Snyder's scenes. As evidenced by McCallany's comments, it became quite a balancing act between tones.
A number of scenes were either altered, trimmed, or cut during post-production, evident by the handful of Justice League‘s scenes that leaked online this past weekend. Among the various gripes people have with Justice League, one of the main issues is that the film feels like a product of two directors, not one vision. Some people blame Whedon for that particular issue as well as the poor CGI in some scenes, while others blame Warner Bros.’ interference.
Producer Charles Roven appears to have settled this debate once and for all. In a new piece from The Washington Times, Roven, a longtime DC producer with Warner Bros., discussed the unusual circumstance they were in to make Justice League feel like the product of one director. Based on what Roven says, this is still very much Snyder’s movie.
The goal is to make sure when you’re watching the movie, it all feels cohesive. That imprint that Joss had, some aspect of it is going to come out in the direction, but the actors are already pretty much down the road on their arcs. Let’s just say 80, 85 percent of the movie is what was originally shot. There’s only so much you can do with other 15, 20 percent of the movie.