Barely a day goes by without a DC project that isn’t relevant to canon anymore being subjected to a social media campaign, but at least the latest candidate has absolutely nothing to do with Zack Snyder or his SnyderVerse for once. In a refreshing change of pace, Joel Schumacher’s Batman Forever finds itself at the center of the latest storm.
Kevin Smith of all people happens to be the one who lit the touchpaper this time around, with the actor and filmmaker screening the mythical Schumacher Cut of the polarizing 1995 blockbuster at his own theater, with the 170-minute edition of Val Kilmer’s one-and-done outing the cape and cowl having slowly been inching its way towards mythic status.
Of course, there’s no justifiable reason why Batman Forever ever need to exist as a nearly three-hour movie, but wouldn’t you know it, calls for the Director’s Cut to be made available to the public for mass consumption have ignited already.
The rose-tinted glasses of nostalgia continue getting thicker as time passes, but is Batman Forever really something that needs to be witnessed in all of its 170-minute, unabashed, excessive, and potentially overlong glory? You know what, it probably is, if only to see if it makes a mediocre comic book adaptation into a good – or dare we even say great – one.
Smith was once intended to screen the Snyder Cut of Justice League before Warner Bros. hit the pause button on that one, but at least he’s managed to stoke the flames of fervor for a Dark Knight epic at long last, although it remains to be seen if the studio will end up capitalizing on the buzz with a streaming or VOD release.