WB Confirms That The Batman Forever Schumacher Cut Exists

The announcement that Zack Snyder’s Justice League is coming to HBO Max next year is a big deal to DC fans as it feels like it’s opening the door to other classic superhero movies getting director’s cuts on the streaming service. The campaign to get the David Ayer cut of Suicide Squad made available is in full swing, with some others starting to gain traction, too.

Following the passing of Joel Schumacher a couple of weeks ago, some Bat fans are now calling for an extended edition of Batman Forever to be put up on HBO Max, in honor of the late filmmaker. Variety has shared an article asking the question of whether such a thing is actually possible, however, and unfortunately it seems the answer to this question is no. Or, at least, not at the moment.

The trade reached out to an unnamed exec at Warner Bros. and they told Variety that there have not been any discussions to date at the studio about releasing the director’s original cut of Batman Forever, which would clock in at around 170 minutes. However, they did confirm that it exists.

If you’re a fan of the film, you may know that the lighter-hearted Forever that was released in theaters and we’ve been watching for the past 20+ years is not the one Schumacher intended to make. He shot a lot of extra material that was removed from the final cut, including a different opening following Tommy Lee Jones’ Two-Face escaping from Arkham Asylum and an elongated version of Jim Carrey’s Riddler storming the Batcave.

Most notably, though, there was originally a whole subplot about Bruce Wayne developing amnesia and forgetting that he was Batman. This darker, psychological story thread would have culminated in Bruce facing a vision of a human-sized bat in the Batcave. The idea of him having to embrace being the Dark Knight again was supposed to be the heart of the film, hence the title Batman Forever.

Would you like to see a Batman Forever extended cut, though? And which other DC movies do you think deserve the Justice League treatment? Have your say in the comments below.