Batman Forever was already getting more attention this year because of 2020 being the film's 25th anniversary. But with the film's director Joel Schumacher passing away due to cancer last month, the DC superhero flick has gotten even more love from fans.
Even more news regarding the film has arisen, however, as Marc Bernadin (Castle Rock, Star Trek: Picard) tweeted out last week that he had heard from a "very good authority" an extended 170-minute long version of the late director's film does in fact exist. This extended version would reportedly add nearly 40 minutes of additional content, as the theatrical cut ran for just over two hours.
In his Tweet, Bernadin stated that Warner Bros. is apparently “unsure if there’s any hunger" for the film, and that the extended cut is just sitting around somewhere. The director then added a poll to his tweet, in order to gauge interest in the extended cut, with the vast majority of voters stating that they were very interested in seeing a release of the cut.
It was also confirmed that the extended cut is a far darker version of the original 1995 superhero sequel, with an alternate opening sequence included. The film originally opened with Batman facing off against Two-Face (Tommy Lee Jones) who holds a bank security guard hostage, and attempts to air lift a vault with a helicopter, before Batman steps in to save the day. The alternate opening, however, adds an additional scene that shows Two-Face's initial escape from Arkham Asylum, with an Arkham doctor finding the words "THE BAT MUST DIE" written in blood on the inside of Harvey Dent's prison cell. There reportedly are also more extended scenes with Two-Face and Jim Carey's Riddler in the cut, which admittedly were some of the most entertaining parts of the original film.
The extended version additionally contains several scenes of Batman confronting his inner-demons, focusing on “the emotional and psychological issues that led Bruce Wayne to decide to become Batman," including a scene where he faces off against a giant man-sized bat. As he exits the bat cave, he simply states to Alfred, "I'm Batman."
This wouldn't be the first extended cut of a superhero film to make news headlines this year, as Zack Snyder's extended version of Justice League (dubbed The Snyder Cut) will reportedly finally get a proper release on HBO Max in 2021. Fans will just have to wait and see if Batman Forever gets a similar extended cut release.
2020 marks the 25th anniversary for Joel Schumacher's Batman Forever.
Source: SlashFilm