Director Zack Snyder came out that major Bat-villains the Joker and Riddler were “this close” to being a part of Batman v Superman‘s giant cast of characters.
Snyder revealed in an interview that he initially had the Riddler and Joker as part of the movie, but decided to take them out in order to put more focus on the feud between Batman and Superman.
“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 news that we could have gotten two big Batman-related villains in the movie is pretty surprising. However, what is not surprising is that the decision to ultimately cut them. Batman v Superman boasts of not only Batman and Superman, but also Wonder Woman, Doomsday, and Lex Luthor. Can you imagine adding more characters to that plot juggling act? Also, in a movie that already features a super-strong guy who can fly teaming up with an immortal Amazon goddess to do battle against an unstoppable monster who shoots lasers out of his face (?), the Joker and Riddler seem like small-fry in comparison. That was a good call leaving them out of the movie, Snyder.
Batman v Superman: Dawn of Justice hits theaters March 25, 2016.
