Filmmaker Akiva Goldsman Reveals 'Darkest' Plot For Scrapped 'Batman v Superman' Film

KEY POINTS

Akiva Goldsman has revealed that he worked on a project that would have pitted Bruce Wayne against Clark Kent
Goldsman noted that it was the "darkest" story that he ever wrote
Colin Farrell was cast as Batman while Jude Law was set to portray Superman before the project was scrapped

Zack Snyder’s “Batman v Superman: Dawn Of Justice” was criticized by a lot of people for its dark theme. The movie did not receive good reviews and became one of the lowest-rated superhero movies in the DC Extended Universe.

But if you think that this was the first time Warner Bros. thought of pitting two of the iconic comic book characters in one movie, then you are completely wrong.

In an interview with Collider, Akiva Goldsman, known for writing Ron Howard’s “A Beautiful Mind,” has revealed that he wrote a project, which would have brought Bruce Wayne and Clark Kent together in an epic comic book encounter. He further stated that it was one of the “darkest” stories that he ever wrote.

Goldsman also noted that Colin Farrell was tapped to play Batman while Jude Law set to portray Superman in the movie.

“I wrote on this version of ‘Batman v Superman’ [around 2001 or 2002] – when Colin Farrell was cast as Batman and Jude Law was cast as Superman and Wolfgang Peterson was directing. We were in prep and it was the darkest you have ever seen,” Goldsman said.

Later in the interview, the Academy Award-winning writer explained the plot that the movie was going to be based on. The feature film would have opened with the funeral of Wayne’s butler Alfred Pennyworth and The Joker murdering his wife.

Unfortunately, the movie was scrapped by the production house for being too dark.

“It started with Alfred's funeral and Bruce has fallen in love and renounced being Batman, the Joker kills his wife, and then you discover it was all a lie. It was a time where you would be able to get these sort of stories together in script form but they couldn't quite land in the world,” Goldsman.

The studio would later revisit the idea of a battle between the two iconic characters in 2016's “Batman v Superman: Dawn of Justice.” The movie featured Ben Affleck as Batman and Henry Cavill as Superman.

The film was panned by the critics and currently holds a score of 28% on review site Rotten Tomatoes. However, the movie earned more than $873 million worldwide.