WARNING: The following article contains spoilers about Warner Bros.' Justice League, in theaters now.


Months before Batman v. Superman: Dawn of Justice arrived in theaters, Warner Bros. unveiled an ambitious slate of films in what became widely known as the DC Extended Universe, expanding with the release of Suicide Squad, Wonder Woman and, now, Justice League. It must have then come as a surprise to the studio when Batman v Superman received a lukewarm reception (at best), resulting in tonal shifts in subsequent films.

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Reports surfaced that Justice League underwent significant changes during production, with Joss Whedon brought on board to write new scenes before going on to oversee extensive reshoots after director Zack Snyder stepped aside in the wake of his daughter's death. Then, it was revealed that the movie, which everyone expected to at least be as long as Batman v. Superman's two and a half hours, would be no longer than 120 minutes.

Considering that the first look at Justice League debuted in summer 2016, and subsequent trailers were released throughout the shifting behind-the-scenes decisions, it shouldn't come as a surprise that many scenes used to market the film made it into the theatrical cut. Here, we run down the biggest moments from the trailers that never made it into theaters.

Bruce and Diana Talk About the Recruits

Justice League trailer Bruce and Diana talk about the team

Justice League's first trailer was released in July 2016, during Comic-Con International in San Diego. While it was short on actual completed footage, a big part of it focused on Bruce Wayne (Ben Affleck) and Diana Prince (Gal Gado) talking about their recruits. The scene seemed to take place after Bruce's failed attempt at convincing Arthur Curry to join their cause.

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This seemed to hint at a longer film, one that started with Bruce and Diana on their own, a united front that sought to add more members to their ranks.

A Lot More Cyborg

Justice League trailer Victor Stone football

Across all four trailers, we saw there was a lot more to Cyborg's story than ended up in the final cut. Various shots showed us Victor Stone (Ray Fisher) before the accident that led to him becoming Cyborg, like one of him walking in his Gotham University jacket, and another of him playing football. These scenes surely would have helped in showing what Victor lost when he became part machine.

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That wasn't all we missed of Cyborg, however. One trailer scene saw him intercept a flaming tank headed straight toward a policeman, in what looks to be the sequence in which the Justice League tries to contain a newly resurrected Superman. There was also a shot of Cyborg flying, and covering his entire face with a full metallic mask before soaring through the sky and over the clouds. Finally, in the SDCC trailer, there's an exchange in which Cyborg tells that he didn't believe the Dark Knight was real.

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Steppenwolf's Monologue

The third Justice League trailer gave a true sense of the danger heading toward Earth with the reveal of the villain Steppenwolf. Not only is the Apokoliptian general shown in action, he also speaks, saying the time to strike was just right. The monologue was notable because Steppenwolf says Earth lacks protectors, specifically mentioning there's no Kryptonian and no Lanterns.

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That reference to the Green Lantern Corps was the first confirmation of the existence of the intergalactic police force in the DC Extended Universe. However, this speech never made it into the film. Thankfully, there was other confirmation that the Green Lanterns do, in fact, exist in this cinematic universe.

Bruce Watches a Hologram of Superman

Justice League trailer Bruce Wayne Superman hologram

In order to keep the return of Superman a surprise in the actual movie, the Justice League trailers largely avoided showing him. The shot of Bruce Wayne looking at a hologram of Superman (Henry Cavill) was the closest we got to seeing Kal-El in the early trailers, igniting theories that might not depict the Man of Steel, but another Kryptonian -- Supergirl.

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The appearance of Supergirl was always extremely unlikely, which made us wonder what reason could Bruce possibly have for watching a hologram of Superman. Was he looking for a bit of hope as he attempts to recruit the other Leaguers? Whatever the reason, we never got to find out.

Barry Allen Shatters Glass

Justice League trailer Barry Allen breaks a window

Ezra Miller's Barry Allen was an obvious highlight of Justice League. While almost all of the scenes that featured him in the trailers appeared in the film, there was actually an intriguing one that didn't make the final cut. You might recall the sequence, in which Barry used a finger at super-speed to shatter a window. It sure looked as if Barry was in the process of saving someone, or maybe stopping a crime. Either way, we never found out why Barry had to break this window.

Alfred Talks to Superman

Justice League trailer Alfred talks to Superman

After Clark Kent is brought back to life and returns to his farm to recover and reconnect, we next see him in full costume, arriving at a crucial time during the Justice League's fight with Steppenwolf and his Parademons. But, according to the trailers, it looks as if the Man of Steel made another stop first, at the Batcave.

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The scene from the trailer never actually showed Superman, but it did feature Alfred Pennyworth (Jeremy Irons) being interrupted during his work, and talking to someone who clearly made him feel uneasy. Alfred says that Bruce said he would come, and that they should hope he isn't too late. This sure seemed to indicate it was Alfred who directed Superman to the location of the fight.

Clark and Lois Talk About The Ring

Justice League trailer Clark Kent

Justice League's final trailer opens with what looked to be a dream sequence that showed Lois Lane (Amy Adams) reuniting with Clark Kent outside of his farmhouse. However, now that we've seen the movie, we know this was no dream, and that the trailer did in fact show us Clark Kent back from the dead.

An intriguing bit of dialogue that was left out of the movie, though. In the trailer, Clark says, "I'll take that as a yes," referring to the engagement ring Lois Lane is wearing. The movie instead focused the subject of the conversation squarely on Clark's return, and what it means to him.


In theaters now, Justice League stars Ben Affleck as Batman, Gal Gadot as Wonder Woman, Henry Cavill as Superman, Amy Adams as Lois Lane, Jason Momoa as Aquaman, Ezra Miller as The Flash, Ray Fisher as Cyborg, Jeremy Irons as Alfred Pennyworth, Diane Lane as Martha Kent, Ciarán Hinds as Steppenwolf, Jesse Eisenberg as Lex Luthor and J.K. Simmons as Commissioner Gordon.