A new alternate scene from Justice League has surfaced online, where Batman’s recruiting of Aquaman takes place a little differently than it did in the theatrical cut. The scene in question takes place early on in the film, after Batman sets out to unite the members of the Justice League against the looming arrival of Steppenwolf.

When Justice League was released last year, its reception was generally a tad lukewarm with both critics and audiences. Many of the criticisms were aimed at the film’s tone, which took a visibly drastic change once Joss Whedon took over the director’s chair from Zack Snyder, who stepped away due to family tragedy. Since then, fans have been clamoring to get a look at the mythical “Snyder Cut,” a version of the film uninterrupted by Warner Bros’ creative changes. Though multiple sources have stated that no such Snyder Cut exists, this latest alternate scene could imply that there is more unused footage than Warner Bros. has let on.

In a newly released demo reel from TeamWorks Digital, a different version of Aquaman’s recruitment scene can be seen in the first few seconds. (The demo reel can be downloaded by clicking on the icon). The key difference in this version as opposed to the theatrical cut of the film is that Bruce Wayne uses a business card to ask around about Arthur Curry rather than the money he uses in the theatrical version. This certainly sparks some curiosity about what this original cut had intended to accomplish with the Wayne Enterprises business card. Since no audio from the film is available in the demo reel, it is left up to speculation what Bruce meant by it and why it was altered in the theatrical cut.

While it does not outright prove the existence of a Snyder Cut, it does imply that perhaps there are more alternate scenes out there that could have drastically changed the story of Justice League. The primary reason Whedon was brought on board was to oversee reshoots, and it is rumored that Snyder shot enough footage to have a cohesive story. The reshoots were not the film’s only problem, but they were certainly a big contributor to the film’s conflicting tone. Both inconsistent color grading and Henry Cavill’s infamous CGI mustache cost the final product dearly.

It is heavily implied that the tone Justice League’s story was also altered mid-production to contrast the gloomier Batman v Superman: Dawn of Justice, whose dour tone was widely criticized. Though the creative intervention from Warner Bros. may have hindered some of Justice League’s success, Aquaman was still a highlight from the film and will have a more lighthearted adventure when his solo movie drops later this year.

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Source: TeamWorks Digital

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