A video by YouTube user, superstarwarsrocks, summarizing a few of the changes preceding the film:
Some changes confirmed by the filmmakers themselves:
Clark as a baby treated examined by a pediatrician was filmed but cut. Zod attacking other Earth cities was never shot.
“There’s a scene, placed between Kal-El’s rocket ship crash-landing in Kansas and an adult Clark working at the fishing boat, where Jonathan and Martha take baby Clark to a pediatrician, because he’s acting strange, due to his superpowers beginning to develop. The doctor decides to check baby Clark’s hearing by emitting sounds into his ear canal. Due to the super-hearing, baby Clark lets out a cry that shatters all of the hospital’s windows as well as setting off alarms of all cars nearby. It was filmed, but cut because it felt out of place.”
Source: Goyer to Bleeding Cool
After Clark is bullied, Jonathan Kent takes him fishing without telling Martha.
Source: Costner junket interview with Access Hollywood in MOSAIC 15 at 56:20
Extended oil rig scene where Clark is searching for the trapped, filmed using practical effects where Cavill was actually struck with a ball of flame, surviving only because he was lathered in protective gel.
“There’s this one bit that didn’t make the movie, unfortunately, but I walked up toward these stairs looking for these guys working on the rig,” Cavill said. “And they set off this 15- to 20-foot fireball in front of me. And I’m about 25 meters away from this thing, and the fire gel on me dries and cracks instantly.
“And had I not been wearing it, my skin would have blistered and come clean off.”
Source: Cavill on The Tonight Show
First draft cut was over 3 hours long.
Source: Deborah Snyder to Collider
There was more Krypton, some shot but ultimately changed and cut back.
“The first draft actually had more even on Krypton. The destruction of Krypton was crazy and we linearised that because it was like the birth and then all of these flashbacks within flashbacks and the timing of Zod’s approach. There was a bigger battle that I had designed on the landing platform and we shot some of it, but for budgetary reasons it got smaller and smaller and then it got to the point where I was just like, ‘Let’s just have the battle inside.’
“Jor-El has this robot called Kelex [voiced by Carla Gugino] and there is this scene where Kelex dons a robotic body and he battles it out with Zod on the landing platform. We had it so Zod had this pack of genetically-engineered war dogs that ran ahead, and Jor-El and Kelex were fighting the war dogs and finally Kelex takes these detonation explosives out of his robotic body and arms them, turning to Jor-El and saying ‘Get the kid off the planet!’, basically. Kelex says, ‘I’m gonna try and hold them off’, and then runs and dives and blows himself up. That makes Zod really mad, and then he lands and Zod goes in and the two fight.”
Source: Snyder to Empire
There’s a small scene where Lois is interrogated by the FBI following Zod’s announcement, and refuses to talk. It was filmed, but cut.
Source: Goyer to Empire
There’s a small scene of Clark petting a dog in Newfoundland, Canada. It was filmed, but cut.
There’s a small scene of Clark leaving the church after speaking to Father Leone. It was filmed, but cut.
There’s dialogue, “I won’t betray them.”, “You already have.” cut.
So remember that filmmaking is a process. Many of these differences are evidenced between the promotional materials and the final film, worked on by different and separate teams. The filmmakers should not be beholden to the marketing team cutting the trailer and the marketing team should not have to wait until the film is completely finalized in order to begin doing their jobs.
As we get closer to Batman v. Superman’s release date, we’re going to begin to see more and more official material. However, whether or not it actually makes it into the film is a different story. If you hang your hat completely on a line like, “I won’t betray them.” then you’ve rigidly and unnecessarily formalized your expectations (or fears). In other words, no matter what we see next, even if “official” is still subject to change….
Deleted Scenes and Alterations
A video by YouTube user, superstarwarsrocks, summarizing a few of the changes preceding the film:
Some changes confirmed by the filmmakers themselves:
Clark as a baby treated examined by a pediatrician was filmed but cut. Zod attacking other Earth cities was never shot.
“There’s a scene, placed between Kal-El’s rocket ship crash-landing in Kansas and an adult Clark working at the fishing boat, where Jonathan and Martha take baby Clark to a pediatrician, because he’s acting strange, due to his superpowers beginning to develop. The doctor decides to check baby Clark’s hearing by emitting sounds into his ear canal. Due to the super-hearing, baby Clark lets out a cry that shatters all of the hospital’s windows as well as setting off alarms of all cars nearby. It was filmed, but cut because it felt out of place.”
Source: Goyer to Bleeding Cool
After Clark is bullied, Jonathan Kent takes him fishing without telling Martha.
Source: Costner junket interview with Access Hollywood in MOSAIC 15 at 56:20
Extended oil rig scene where Clark is searching for the trapped, filmed using practical effects where Cavill was actually struck with a ball of flame, surviving only because he was lathered in protective gel.
“There’s this one bit that didn’t make the movie, unfortunately, but I walked up toward these stairs looking for these guys working on the rig,” Cavill said. “And they set off this 15- to 20-foot fireball in front of me. And I’m about 25 meters away from this thing, and the fire gel on me dries and cracks instantly.
“And had I not been wearing it, my skin would have blistered and come clean off.”
Source: Cavill on The Tonight Show
First draft cut was over 3 hours long.
Source: Deborah Snyder to Collider
There was more Krypton, some shot but ultimately changed and cut back.
“The first draft actually had more even on Krypton. The destruction of Krypton was crazy and we linearised that because it was like the birth and then all of these flashbacks within flashbacks and the timing of Zod’s approach. There was a bigger battle that I had designed on the landing platform and we shot some of it, but for budgetary reasons it got smaller and smaller and then it got to the point where I was just like, ‘Let’s just have the battle inside.’
“Jor-El has this robot called Kelex [voiced by Carla Gugino] and there is this scene where Kelex dons a robotic body and he battles it out with Zod on the landing platform. We had it so Zod had this pack of genetically-engineered war dogs that ran ahead, and Jor-El and Kelex were fighting the war dogs and finally Kelex takes these detonation explosives out of his robotic body and arms them, turning to Jor-El and saying ‘Get the kid off the planet!’, basically. Kelex says, ‘I’m gonna try and hold them off’, and then runs and dives and blows himself up. That makes Zod really mad, and then he lands and Zod goes in and the two fight.”
Source: Snyder to Empire
There’s a small scene where Lois is interrogated by the FBI following Zod’s announcement, and refuses to talk. It was filmed, but cut.
Source: Goyer to Empire
There’s a small scene of Clark petting a dog in Newfoundland, Canada. It was filmed, but cut.
There’s a small scene of Clark leaving the church after speaking to Father Leone. It was filmed, but cut.
There’s dialogue, “I won’t betray them.”, “You already have.” cut.
So remember that filmmaking is a process. Many of these differences are evidenced between the promotional materials and the final film, worked on by different and separate teams. The filmmakers should not be beholden to the marketing team cutting the trailer and the marketing team should not have to wait until the film is completely finalized in order to begin doing their jobs.
As we get closer to Batman v. Superman’s release date, we’re going to begin to see more and more official material. However, whether or not it actually makes it into the film is a different story. If you hang your hat completely on a line like, “I won’t betray them.” then you’ve rigidly and unnecessarily formalized your expectations (or fears). In other words, no matter what we see next, even if “official” is still subject to change….