With weeks to go before the release of Zack Snyder’s Justice League cut on HBO Max, more details are coming of the expansions to the film.
However, one of Snyder’s major planned ideas will not be in this expanded version: A romance between Batman/Bruce Wayne (Ben Affleck) and Lois Lane (Amy Adams).
Star-crossed romance
The idea of Superman’s love with anyone but the Man of Steel may seem impossible, but Snyder wanted to try it for Justice League.
The movie picks up immediately after the events of Batman v Superman, where Superman (Henry Cavill) sacrificed himself to stop Doomsday. This leaves Lois heavily in mourning.
Even as the heroes gather to stop an alien invasion of Earth, the movie would explore the ramifications of Superman’s loss.
As he explained to Vanity Fair, Snyder had the idea that an emotional Lois would turn to Bruce Wayne for support, leading to a romantic subplot.
“The intention was that Bruce fell in love with Lois and then realized that the only way to save the world was to bring Superman back to life. So he had this insane conflict, because Lois, of course, was still in love with Superman. We had this beautiful speech where [Bruce] said to Alfred: ‘I never had a life outside the cave. I never imagined a world for me beyond this. But this woman makes me think that if I can get this group of gods together, then my job is done. I can quit. I can stop.’ And of course, that doesn’t work out for him.”
Eventually, Bruce would realize the world needed Superman and that he was Lois’s true love to bring him back to life.
Shot down by execs
The idea of Lois and Batman may seem wild, but there is precedent for it.
In the 1997 Batman and Superman: World’s Finest animated movie (a tie-in to the hit animated shows), Bruce Wayne briefly dated Lois, which makes Clark Kent jealous.
Lois even discovers Bruce’s identity as Batman, leading to the irony of her keeping it quiet from Clark, unaware of Clark’s own secret.
It appears the subplot was vetoed by Warner Bros executives, who were concerned it would look bad that a mourning Lois “betray” Clark’s memory by going to Bruce.
Snyder accepted it, explaining that many of the requested changes were tied into lightning the film’s tone.
Despite all the new additions to the film (including rumors of a shocking last-minute cameo), the romantic subplot will not be among them.
Some comic-book purists might be happy that this romance never made it into the movie, yet it shows the bold ideas Snyder had for his Justice League vision that never came to be.
Justice League the Snyder Cut debuts on HBO Max on March 19.