After introducing a new version of Superman in Man of Steel, Warner Bros. decided to launch their own cinematic universe about DC characters. Their first film did not do much to lay the foundation of the larger world that Superman was a part of, but Batman V Superman: Dawn of Justice made sure to change that, and do so quickly. The two and a half hour epic pitted DC’s two most recognizable characters against one another to start, but by the end of the film, they were predictably fighting a much bigger threat together, all while setting up the future of the DCEU.

This was hardly a surprise as the film’s title indicated dual stories and motives in place, but in the mind of most, the film succeeded with one of these storylines and not the other. The movie’s third act was loaded with “Easter eggs” for what is to come - including introducing future Justice League characters - and detracted from the one-on-one superhero fight fans were interested in seeing. Well, now one fan has taken it upon himself to edit the movie down to just tell the Batman vs Superman part of the story.

Fan editor, Reese Eans, uploaded a five-part edit of the Ultimate Cut for BvS that strips away any setup for future DCEU storylines and characters, making the film’s sole focus the fight between Batman (Ben Affleck) and Superman (Henry Cavill). This No Justice cut of the film removes 69 minutes of footage from the 3-hours and 3-minutes runtime of the Ultimate Cut, thus creating a much more manageable 1 hour and 46-minute edition. You can see the first part below and each of the following parts by following the links.

One of the biggest changes, outside of the third act, that this edit makes is the removal of Wonder Woman (Gal Gadot). Since the edit completely removes the final battle against Doomsday - the sole purpose for Wonder Woman to be involved at all during the film - her previous brief encounters with Bruce can by cut out and not have that big of an effect on the movie. With Doomsday and Wonder Woman absent, the film’s third act does not contain the QuickTime cameos of Flash, Aquaman, and Cyborg, which were a common complaint among fans, but the cut does not, however, remove the much maligned Martha scene because it is actually vital to the conclusion of the Batman vs Superman confrontation.

With the complete reworking of the third act, this cut also takes moments from earlier in the film when Lois and Clark are living their normal human lives and puts that at the end. This changes the narrative entirely with Superman not being dead in the world, and the two setting aside their differences for the betterment of humanity, but also because Bruce is able to see Superman as a person and not a monster because of the pivotal Martha scene.

All in all, this is cut completely changes the film and how - if this was the version that was canon - the DCEU would be set up moving forward. Clearly, the DCEU is not moving forward in a world where Batman and Superman are friends, Wonder Woman will be introduced in a World War I origin story, and other Justice League characters will get proper introductions in Justice League. So even though this edit may not actually matter to the DCEU, it’s still a great reinterpretation of the film we got.

Source: Reese Evans

  • wonder woman Release Date: 2017-06-02 Justice League Release Date: 2017-11-17 Aquaman Release Date: 2018-12-21