Snow

Batman v Superman was originally intended to be shot in the snow, with principal photography beginning in late 2013. Unfortunately, record low temperatures due to the polar vortex at the time made it unsafe for filming and the shoot was delayed. Concept art for the film’s original Winter look was drawn up by artists Christian Lorenz Scheurer, Ed Natividad, and Victor Martinez. Presumably in the Winter of late 2013 or early 2014, the crew conducted a handheld IMAX camera test for viability with Amy Adams in the snow, likely intended to resemble the funeral sequence considering Adams’ attire. Larry Fong has two photos of the test.

“We were supposed to start shooting BvS in the Winter time, so BvS was supposed to have that kind of Batman Returns kind of Batman snow, which I love. If you watch my films, I always have Batman in the snow or in the rain. I like to put him in environments. So, we were supposed to shoot in Detroit, and there was supposed to be snow. We were going to have that kind of nice texture, but unfortunately, that year, the polar vortex hit, and we couldn’t shoot anything, so we had to delay shooting to pretty much May/June, but it gave us a lot of time to kind of really rework the sequences and figure things out, which is good. More time always helps.”

Jay Oliva, Justice Con, 18 April 2021

Alternate Doomsday Battle

Unknown Scene

ESPN reporter Tom VanHaaren alleges he was signed on as an extra in Batman v Superman, assigned to play a waiter in a scene intended to be shot on 15 August 2014 before getting abruptly cancelled. No further details are publicly available.

Joe Chill Wide Shot

The Comic-Con trailer has a wider shot of Joe Chill raising his gun at the Wayne family in Beautiful Lie.

Bruce Driving Past Police Cars

@filming_chicago got photos of Metropolis police cruisers parked along the Chicago Riverwalk where the pier to North Breakwater Access (where Bruce’s helicopter lands) connects to the mainland, indicating there was likely additional footage of Bruce’s car passing by these police vehicles in Their War Here.

U-Turn

During filming for Their War Here in Detroit between the 6th and 19th of August 2014, someone posted this video to YouTube of Bruce’s Jeep Renegade turning back from a dead end at the junction of West Fort and Griswold Street (1:26), which was clearly deleted from the final film.

Emerald City

Set photos from Bora-Bora during filming for the Emerald City depict unseen footage of an indigenous women and her child walking on the beach. The boat on the shore indicates the deleted footage may have included the two scavengers arriving on dry land.

The Desert

The concept art “Afghan Trek” by Concept Artist Rob McKinnon indicates there may have been a longer travelling scene in The Desert before being cut down for something better suiting the pacing.

Unknown Scene

According to set photos and Wayne State University’s Facebook page, a scene was shot outside the campus’ Prentis building. Besides the rain, the contents of the shoot are publicly unknown, but considering timing, it may be connected to a photo of Amy Adams filming in her Nairomi outfit taken on the 12th.

Fixing the Ceiling

Snyder confirmed deleted footage where Clark had to fix the leak in the ceiling in the apartment below caused by his overflowing the tub in Bathtub Love. It sounds like key second assistant director Misha Bukowski played the angry neighbour in a cameo.

“There was a sequence we did — I don’t think it’s in the movie at all — but it was that — I can’t remember exactly — but the water had gone to the apartment below them. Did we shoot it? I can’t remember if we shot it, but Clark had fixed the roof of the apartment below because they were mad. It was in the script for sure. We might’ve shot a little piece of it. I can’t remember.”

Zack Snyder, Full Circle, Batman v Superman: Dawn of Justice commentary, 29 April 2023

“There was a scene — we shot it, I can barely remember it — it’s the scene where Clark went down to the apartment below to fix the leak in the ceiling from them spilling the water out of the bathtub. Misha Bukowski — we called her Mrs Bukowski — because she lived below and was always banging her broom on the roof and would be like, ‘Hey, what’s going on up there?! You guys are making a lot of noise!’ It was a lot of shooting. Bukowski, the nosey neighbour who lived below Lois and Clark, who’s angry that water kept spilling out of the tub every night, coming into their bathroom. Not everything made it into the movie. She turned out to be a superhero too! No, I’m just kidding. She wasn’t. She was nobody!”

Zack Snyder, Full Circle, Batman v Superman: Dawn of Justice Q&A, 29 April 2023

“I was a person!”

According to The Art of the Film, during False God, Wallace Keefe may have been cut off in editing while yelling, “I worked for Bruce Wayne!” and the end of his quote was, “I was a person!”

Clark in Bed

In the art book, The Art of the Film, one photograph shows a deleted scene in which Clark is asleep in bed while Lois touches him on the back. The outfit Lois wears indicates it is the same day as the Daily Planet sequence in False God. Therefore, it probably took place around here. The film’s director of photography, Larry Fong, hinted the point of the scene on Twitter, saying, “Lois is going to work… and Clark has been going through some rough times.” One theory for the content of this scene is that Lois is comforting Clark after having nightmares about Black Zero, which would tie into Clark’s later mentioning during the mountaintop scene that he, like Jonathan Kent, has been haunted by nightmares involving those he cannot save. This theory, if true, would mean these nightmares have been occurring long before the Capitol bombing.

Ferry Long Take

An extended sequence of Clark walking through the Lake Express passenger ferry in False God was filmed and cut.

“This was an incredibly hilarious long take of Clark walking through the entire ferry, but then we just ended up using the end of it.”

Zack Snyder, Batman v Superman: Dawn of Justice Watch Party, 29 March 2020

Detective Work

According to Batman News shortly after the Detective Work scene was filmed, a sequence was cut showing Bruce entering the establishment. He is asked to explain his presence by the patronage, to which he allegedly responds, “I’m kind of a night person.”

“You’re the best in the world at what you do”

According to Batman v Superman: Dawn of Justice: The Art of the Film, Lois has the line, “You’re the best in the world at what you do, Clark. So am I. Let me find the truth.” It was most likely from the cut footage of Lois and Clark’s conversation at the end of Digging Up Snakes.

Digging Up Snakes

In Digging Up Snakes, there is a shot of Lois over her duffle bag. In the next, the duffle bag has changed position and Lois is facing Clark, suggesting some dialogue was deleted.

Metroplis Library Fundraiser Footage

At the start of the second official trailer for the movie, there is an ascending crane establishing shot of the red carpet into Lex’s house in Metropolis Library Fundraiser that is not in the film. There is also a medium close-up on Bruce that was excluded from the final film. It can be seen in an obscure foreign trailer for the movie that I can no longer find.

In the second full trailer, while Bruce and Clark are conversing during Metropolis Library Fundraiser, Bruce smirks at Clark, but this was removed from the final film, perhaps to avoid the implication that Bruce knew that Clark was Superman.

In an Instagram post, Kevin Epling — the Michigan State University film liaison — was in a scene side-by-side with Ben Affleck which didn’t make the final cut, saying on his personal Instagram, “He walked by and pushed past me as the camera tracked behind him — towards me (it’s covered by the schematic).” His inclusion as an extra was also mentioned in this article by City Pulse, where Epling said, “I think I saw a glimmer of myself over Henry Cavill’s shoulder.”

Factory Save Consequences

Zack Snyder discussed deleted footage wherein Superman’s intervention in the factory fire during Must There Be A Superman? motivated the factory owners to relax their safety precautions…

“There’s a fun conversation — we filmed it, it’s not in the cut — but there’s a conversation when [Superman] saves the girl from the garment factory, we had a line where a guy goes, but now all the garment factory owners, they’re not concerned with safety because they just figure Superman will show up to save them if the building catches on fire. It’s sort of a catch-22 to being the Ex Machina, being the hand of God: the hand of God can’t be everywhere the same time. You’re headed for a fall.”

Zack Snyder, Wall Street Journal, 21 March 2016

“Power corrupts”

As heard in the teaser trailer and the Comic-Con trailer, June Finch has the lines, “Power corrupts, and absolute power corrupts absolutely,” and, “That kind of power is very dangerous.” These lines are not in the final film. Presumably, they were somewhere around Finch’s interview with Charlie Rose in Must There Be A Superman or during What Is Good when she invites Superman to the Capitol.

Additional Handshakes

In the director’s commentary (1:00:34) for Secretary Swanwick, Snyder confirmed they had shot additional footage of Calvin shaking hands with the veterans down the hall.

Museum Gala Long Take

Editor David Brenner explained that the giant long take at the start of Museum Gala following the waiter and subsequently the museum curator as he leads Diana to the sword of Alexander the Great was originally even longer, following the waiter from the staff room into the museum.

“The opening shot was constructed with a much longer introduction. A oner, starting close on a tray of champagne glasses, we follow a waiter out with the tray into a museum gala… an art curator takes a glass off the tray and we follow him as he interrupts Diana Prince from a conversation, and walks her through the party giving her an elaborate introduction to the Sword of Alexander…. and finally we come to the sword. This beautifully timed shot was one of the first things we had to cut because, as I said we were well over 3 hours and I guess the shot itself had little to do with story…”

David Brenner, ProVideo Coalition, 10 April 2016

Alternate Batman Shot

The Batman v Superman: Dawn of Justice – Official Teaser Trailer contains an alternate version of this shot set during an earlier time of day, at dawn, which also seems to be closer to the same time of day when Perry was looking for Clark immediately before the Batmobile chase.

Additional Batmobile Footage

According to Detroit News, the Batmobile was filmed speeding along Vernor Highway under the train tracks beside Michigan Central Station (where Fight Night was shot). It may have been a deleted sequence from the Batmobile Chase.

Ayman Hariri Close-Up

During the diner sequences in Capitol Montage, there was a close-up of Zack Snyder’s friend and Vero founder Ayman Hariri that didn’t make it into the film.

Martha Shot

During Clark’s meeting with Martha in Smallville under the starlit sky in the Capitol Montage, Martha’s line, “People hate what they don’t understand,” is said off-screen at the end of the previous sequence. She can only be seen saying the line in the Comic-Con trailer.

Capitol Vehicles

Vehicles retrofitted into fictional Capitol Hill taxis were seen around 29 September while filming the burning Superman effigy and 21 August while filming at the Wayne County Building. None of these taxis appear in the film (or rather we never see their exteriors), even though at least five were made.

Unknown Lois Lane Scene

On 11 November 2014, Amy Adams was seen filming in a location not seen in the film, plus more shooting later that evening. She was wearing the same outfit (and the same bag) she wore during Capitol Montage, suggesting this scene took place around then, though it seems to be raining in this scene.

Superman Shot at Capitol

In the Comic-Con trailer, there is a rear shot of Superman approaching the podium during the Capitol Hearing. This was not used in the final film.

Batman Surveillance Footage

Snyder confirmed in the director’s commentary (1:34:13) that multiple surveillance camera recordings were shot to show Batman’s assault on LexCorp in LexCorp Ruined, but only one was used.

Lois Researching

Snyder confirmed in the director’s commentary (1:36:03) that additional footage was shot of Lois doing research on her laptop in her hotel room scene in Superman Was Never Real. This behind-the-scenes photo (right) depicts this footage.

Lead Smoke Grenade Setup

Snyder confirmed they shot footage explaining Batman’s lead smoke grenade more clearly, but it was cut for the more elegant shot of the smoke grenade canisters bearing the “Pb” symbol for lead.

“It seems so obvious the way Superman would not see him was if the lead cloud hides him, but good work finding the solid proof. I think it’s in my storyboards. I am going to look. Yes, it’s in the info on the file he took. I shot a longer bit with Bruce working on how or why lead, but the simple grenade seemed more elegant.”

Zack Snyder, Vero, March 2018

Longer Nancy Grace Sequence

Snyder confirmed in the director’s commentary (1:48:44) that political commentator Nancy Grace — for her cameo in Bat Light — had recorded a longer tirade, but only a small snippet was used.

Daily Planet Lobby

The lobby of 111 East Wacker Drive was furnished with the Daily Planet globe and logos on the floor and walls, which all went completely unseen in the final film, indicating that interior footage was shot. Amy Adams was also present on the set for shooting on 12 November 2014, wearing the same outfit she wears during Lois’ kidnapping in Problems Up Here, suggesting this sequence may have been set immediately prior. A casting call for “newspaper employees” was sent out on the 5th, set for this day.

Superman Looking for Martha

There was a deleted scene of Superman trying to find Martha after his encounter with Lex in Problems Up Here by flying above the city and listening intently while the camera rotated around him, but due to the immense bustle of the city and the many terrible crimes taking place, he was unable to pick her out. According to Snyder, it was cut for being too heavy. However, this was only two weeks after the film’s release, and Snyder has continued discussing the scene years later, suggesting he didn’t want it gone.

“We had a scene that we cut from the movie where he tries to look for her when he finds out that Lex has got her. It was a slightly dark scene that we cut out because it sort of represented this dark side. Because when he was looking for his mum he heard all the cries of all the potential crimes going on in the city, you know when you look.

I kind of like the idea that he’s taught himself not to look because if he looks it’s just never-ending, right? You have to know when, as Superman, when to intervene and when not to. Or not when not to, you can’t be everywhere at once, literally you can’t be everywhere at once, so he has to be really selective in a weird way about where he chooses to interfere.”

Zack Snyder, IGN, 8 April 2016

“It is a green screen shot. He flies up above the city and hovers. The camera begins to rotate around him as he hears the cries of citywide crime going on and as we get closer, he is in pain because he knows if he tries to find her this way, he will have to ignore the countless crimes going on in the two cities and the world.”

Zack Snyder, Vero, 6 November 2016

“Everyone always asks me for this scene, the ‘looking for Martha’ scene. I think I’ve talked about it where we photographed him flying up after this bit where he’s listening for her, but he just hears the screams of all the murders and everything that’s happening in the city, so he can’t really quite pin it down. That happens right after this, I guess.”

Zack Snyder, Full Circle, Batman v Superman: Dawn of Justice commentary, 29 April 2023

Unknown Diana Prince Scene

The Comic-Con trailer has a shot of Diana Prince in her white dress seen when she enters her hotel in Problems Up Here, standing idly before the staircase in the lobby of the Masonic Temple, Detroit.

“It’s time you learned what it means to be a man”

In the Batman v Superman: Dawn of Justice – Official Trailer 2, Batman has a deleted line of dialogue where he says, “It’s time you learned what it means to be a man.” Presumably, it was somewhere in Fight Night.

“It’s way past time you learned what it means to be a man.”

Batman, The Dark Knight Returns, 1986

Warehouse Fight Footage

“Obeys only me!”

In behind-the-scenes footage for Doomsday, we can see Jesse Eisenberg yell the line, “Obeys only me!” before turning to Superman to say, “And born to destroy you!” This was likely removed to put emphasis on the blood connection and avoid questions of why Doomsday subsequently attacks Lex.

Richard Grayson’s Gravestone

Thanks to a photograph by jbingles on Imgur, we know that the gravestone of “Richard John Grayson” was present at the Wayne mausoleum set in Orion Oaks County Park, 2301 Clarkston Road, Lake Orion, Michigan. There was likely footage emphasising it to highlight that the dead Robin was Dick Grayson. Unfortunately, the photo was deleted from the album, but the photo (right) was saved.

Alfred IMAX Scene

The official IMAX Facebook page posted this photograph of Snyder filming a scene using an IMAX camera. There are tombstones visible in the left of the frame. Jeremy Irons is present wearing an outfit not seen on Alfred at any point in the released movie in the widescreen or IMAX sequences. This could be a simple camera test, though it may also be a deleted scene, and considering the tombstones, it may also be a scene confirming the dead Robin was Dick Grayson, whose name we know is present on one of the graves.

Clark’s Laptop

An interview with Larry Fong by British Cinematographer presented a photo revealing that a scene was shot with Clark working at a laptop in the apartment he shares with Lois Lane. Fong said on Twitter that the sequence was cut for being ultimately inconsequential, and for the movie already having too many shots of computer screens. It’s possible that this is where Clark discovers the news that the factory owners chose to lax their safety precautions after Superman’s intervention in Must There Be A Superman?.

Superman Statue Unveiling

Leslie Love was running for office as Michigan state representative when she auditioned for the role of the mayor of Metropolis. Zack Snyder chose her for the role, and she went on to shoot three deleted scenes. She filmed a scene at Michigan Motion Picture Studios in Pontiac, Michigan, wherein her character gave a speech during the unveiling of the Superman statue in Heroes Park. Sources for Batman News reported that news trucks and helicopters were present, that children on set wore “Superman Survivors” shirts, and that real doves were released during the unveiling. Sources for Superman Homepage reported that Love “was flanked by ten staff members (five either side)” and that the scene “was shot from multiple angles, in multiple takes, by the Second Unit Director, with Zack Snyder appearing later in the day.”

“They said to me, ‘We loved your audition tape, you kind of have this Coretta Scott King vibe about you.’ They consciously picked a Black woman to play the mayor of Metropolis. They could have picked anybody. There were actors from Chicago, New York, Atlanta, Ohio up here shooting, but they picked me, a Black woman from Detroit, to have this awesome experience.

I give this great speech about how we are a resilient people, and that no attack or no force will bring us down. We will always continue to rebuild because that’s the strength of the people of Metropolis. I thought it was serendipitous because at that time I was running for office (in Detroit).

I could identify with it because my city was going through exactly the same. That’s probably why Zack picked Detroit, not only for the filming centre but because of our own personal story as a city of having gone through the bankruptcy situation. Where we could be broken down, and you see the sweaters and the T-shirts that say ‘Detroit vs Everybody’ and yet we’re rising from those ashes now.

I had handlers and makeup and hair and costumes. I had people who walked me to my location-I felt like Julia Roberts.”

Leslie Love, BLAC, 7 March 2016

Metropolis Mayor Meets Perry White

Leslie Love was running for office as Michigan state representative when she auditioned for the role of the mayor of Metropolis. Zack Snyder chose her for the role, and she went on to shoot three deleted scenes. She shot a scene with Lawrence Fishburne as Perry White at the London Chop House, 155 West Congress Street, Detroit, Michigan, of which there was a photo of Fishburne at the location. No further details are publicly available.

“Detroit and Michigan overall are really the co-stars of this movie, but the filmmakers gave me a costume, they gave me a trailer, I had handlers, I had a make up artist, I had the star treatment. I would say Warner Brothers and director Zach Snyder treated me like royalty. It was a wonderful experience.

It was one of those things every actor who spends a lot of time waiting tables dreams about: what it would be like to get in that big movie? You want that experience: to sit in the director’s chair under the tent. They give you blankets while you’re cold waiting to go on set. All of that really happened.

I delivered a speech on the steps as Metropolis dedicated a monument to Superman. The directors were impressed. They thought I had a ‘Coretta Scott King’ kind of vibe about me.

I had a scene with Laurence Fishburne, who plays the editor of the ‘Daily Planet’ newspaper. He was a doll and an absolute gentleman. I knew, unlike me, he was a long time veteran of the film industry, but we broke the ice quickly when he was curious about ‘Shinola,’ the phenomenal, fashionable watch-making company right here in Detroit.

I’d say is the city has lovely smooth edges and sharp corners as well, and we will probably see the truth of that a little bit – plus a lot of fiction and imagination – that is just the nature of Hollywood. We see the truth in that, we don’t hide our blemishes, and we celebrate the things that we do really well here in Detroit. We recognize where we need to improve, but it is all a part of what gives us character,” says Love. “I think that one of the attractive things about filming in Detroit and Michigan is that our state has so much character – whether it is mountains, lakes, an urban environment, railroad tracks, or our abandoned train station (Michigan Central, a dark, dramatic battle setting in the film). That is all very sexy and attractive to creative people, and folks trying to tell truthful story.”

Leslie Love, Forbes, 24 March 2016

Jim Murray’s Possible Cameo

Former Michigan AT&T President Jim Murray, who got his photo taken with Henry Cavill, claimed to have shot a scene for the movie on 3 July 2014.

Unknown Scene

A scene was allegedly filmed near the intersection of Woodward Avenue and East Grand River Avenue in Detroit, Michigan. No further details are available.

Unknown Scene

Instagram user @uofmuscle alleges that a scene for Batman v Superman was shot on 15 June 2014 against a wall at the Saranay Motel, 28202 Woodward Avenue, Royal Oak, Michigan.

F-18 Pilot

In addition to his role as Joe Chill, the film’s stunt coordinator Damon Caro portrayed an F-18 fighter pilot in deleted footage. The exact content of the footage is unknown.

“I played the pilot earlier during the shoot in a scene that actually I was directing. Joe Chill, that was later. The F-18 scene didn’t make the cut of the movie.”

Damon Caro, Screen Rant, 9 September 2018