‘Justice League’ Opening Scene Was Supposed to Be ‘Comedic,’ Says Holt McCallany
“Mindhunter” star says he framed letter Joss Whedon sent him after filming
Ashley Boucher | November 24, 2017 @ 9:58 AM
Last Updated: November 24, 2017 @ 10:57 AM
Holt McCallany
Warning: There are light spoilers for “Justice League” ahead.
You may have missed it, but that burglar Batman (Ben Affleck) fights in the opening scene of “Justice League” was “Mindhunter” star Holt McCallany, and the actor said the scene was originally much more comedic than the version that ended up in theaters.
“My scene with Batman was originally conceived as a comedic scene,” McCallany told Men’s Fitness in a recent interview. “That’s how Joss [Whedon] 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.”
McCallany said he was “disappointed” by the change, but when he got home to New York, he “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.”
The actor also said that because his character didn’t die, “it could be laying some groundwork for another appearance down the line.”
“That would be exciting,” he said of the prospect of sticking around in the DC Extended Universe.
McCallany said he had fun using boxing experience and stunt work from previous films to fight Batman (he was in “Fight Club”), but said, “In this case, it’s fighting a superhero, so it’s tougher — Batman can do a lot of things other guys can’t do.”
The actor said he was at one point “in consideration for a very good role in the Marvel universe,” but the role went to someone else, “so it was nice to be involved with ‘Justice League.’ It was also my first time working with so much green screen — a lot of reacting to Parademons I can’t actually see.”
Catch McCallany’s cameo in “Justice League” is in theaters now.
15 Scenes in the 'Justice League' Trailers That Were Not in the Finished Movie
(Spoilers ahead for "Justice League") Given that the Joss Whedon-helmed reshoots on "Justice League" went on significantly longer than planned, it's not really a surprise that some scenes from the marketing didn't make the final cut. But it's still fun to take a look at what was meant to be and compare it to what we actually got. So let's do that right now. (Note: This post was originally published on Nov. 18, 2017)
This hero shot of Wonder Woman (Gal Gadot), Aquaman (Jason Momoa) and Cyborg (Ray Fisher) didn't make the movie -- and neither did whatever location they're standing in.
This location appears to be a different version of the cross-shaped platform at the center of the abandoned nuclear reactor Steppenwolf works from in the movie, but it never ends up looking so thoroughly thoroughly alien in the finished film. This old version of that space may have been somewhere else -- like inside Steppenwolf's spaceship that he keeps teleporting down to Earth from but which we never actually see in the movie.
There were two trailer shots that showed Victor Stone in his pre-Cyborg state, but none were in the movie.
Here's Victor Stone playing football, another pre-Cyborg bit for him that didn't make it in.
There is a big cornfield scene between Clark (Henry Cavill) and Lois (Amy Adams) in the finished film but either it's different from this one one -- in which Clark says that he'll take her wearing his engagement ring from "Batman v Superman" as a yes to his proposal -- from the trailer or this was a part of that scene that didn't make it in. The cornfield scene in the finished product, notably, is one of those where Henry Cavill has his "Mission: Impossible" mustache being covered up by CGI, and that is very obviously not happening in this shot here.
Though the "Justice League" opening credits did feature a montage of people being terrible without the moral compass of Superman to guide them, this bit with the "WORLD WITHOUT HOPE" newspaper headline was not among those shots.
There's a scene in which Alfred (Jeremy Irons) is talking to someone offscreen (it's implied that it's Superman) in the batcave. Based on the dialogue we'd guess that Superman visited Alfred to find out where the other Justice League pals had gone to fight the final battle -- Superman, as you'll recall, simply shows up midway through that fight.
There was a bit in one of the trailers where Cyborg saves a man from being nailed by an exploding tank, but there were no tanks at all in the finished film so it's tough to guess where this fits in.
Aquaman did spear a lot of bug people in the finished movie, but this bit where he spears two at the same time didn't make the cut
This trailer shot shows Cyborg sporting a helmet.
The trailer implies this shot is of Cyborg flying above the clouds, and while we do see him fly around a few times we never got this particular bit.
The Flash breaking a window while using his super speed was a cool visual that was nowhere to be found in the finished movie
Here we see the Flash (Ezra Miller) fighting an evil soldier. Curiously, that entire type of baddie was cut from the movie -- all of Steppenwolf's forces had wings but this guy looks more like a regular human, a la the soldiers in Bruce Wayne's nightmare in "Batman v Superman."
Not sure what this shot is, honestly.
This part, in which Wonder Woman knocks a couple bug guys off the Batmobile, actually is in the movie -- but the color pallette is dramatically different in the finished film, sporting a bright red hue instead.
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We’ve got a pretty solid amount of cut content to sift through here
(Spoilers ahead for "Justice League") Given that the Joss Whedon-helmed reshoots on "Justice League" went on significantly longer than planned, it's not really a surprise that some scenes from the marketing didn't make the final cut. But it's still fun to take a look at what was meant to be and compare it to what we actually got. So let's do that right now. (Note: This post was originally published on Nov. 18, 2017)
