Who needs Ben Affleck and Ana de Armas? We could’ve had Ben Affleck and Amy de Adams. In a Vanity Fair profile leading up to the HBO Max debut of Zack Snyder’s Justice League, director Zack Snyder opened up about the development of the original, embattled 2017 film, including his creative differences with Warner Bros. These differences include an axed subplot in which Affleck’s Bruce Wayne would have fallen in love with Superman’s GF 4eva, Lois Lane, played by Amy Adams. Warner Bros. is willing to make an entire movie about how good guys Batman and Superman punch each other really hard, but shipping Lois with Bruce was a step too far. Snyder explained the original concept, saying Warner Bros. “did nix†it:
“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,†says Snyder. “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.â€
Snyder also speaks about Joss Whedon’s involvement after the film, after he left due to family tragedy. Snyder denies the reports that he had “asked Whedon for help†with Justice League reshoots, and, in fact, “he only had one conversation with Whedon, about the studio’s notes.†Snyder claims that DC Entertainment creative chief Geoff Johns brought Whedon on and gave him directorial power, as he was already planning a Batgirl movie with Whedon, who has since been the subject of an internal investigation over misconduct on the set of Justice League. Snyder does not speak about the allegations against Whedon but does confirm that he has not watched the 2017 theatrical release/Whedon cut of Justice League.