In the wake of Joel Schumacher’s death, we now know that there exists an extended copy of Batman Forever. Here’s why Warner Bros. need to release it.
A couple of weeks ago, our community was rocked by the news that director Joel Schumacher passed away at the age of 80 following a bout with cancer. Beyond having his name attached to classics like Falling Down and The Lost Boys, he is also well-known for directing both Batman Forever and, of course, the infamous Batman and Robin.
His relationship to Batman Forever in particular is going to be the primary focus of this article, specifically in regards to a rumor that stirred up shortly after Schumacher’s passing claiming that an extended Director’s Cut existed deep inside of the Warner Bros. vault.
That rumor was later confirmed by Variety this week who spoke to an unnamed source claiming that an extended cut exists that is indeed 170 minutes long – an extra 40 minutes more than the film’s original theatrical length. This extended version is also cited to be “much darker, more serious” than what we got in theaters and even features a cameo from a giant bat (not quite Man-Bat, but similar) staring down Bruce Wayne.
Further comments from Warner Bros. representatives suggest that not only are there currently no plans to release The Schumacher Cut, but the studio seems unsure at the moment if enough of the footage has survived 25 years enough for a digital restoration.
Even without 100% of the footage intact, a lot of us are still clamoring to see The Schumacher Cut come to life. Here’s why.
3. Fans Want To Love The Auteur
Perhaps now more than ever before, fans across the cinema community have an affinity and respect for the director (or auteur) at the helm of production enough that these fans want said director’s vision be fully realized for all the world to see.
The most popular recent example of this is the fan response to the long-rumored extended cut of Justice League from original director Zack Snyder – which proceeded to produce a social media outcry to see The Snyder Cut come to life years before Warner Bros. decided to deliver.
Understanding all of the hard work that it takes to make a movie, fans want to love and appreciate the director. For all of the hate Joel Schumacher got for films like Batman Forever – even as recently as 10 years – the film community is far more forgiving, inviting and appreciative today than it has ever been.
Both of his Batman efforts are already starting to gain more of a cult following, so it’d be only natural to see a new fanbase created for the film as he originally intended it to be seen by the masses.
This is Schumacher’s vision and it deserves to be realized.
2. One Last Goodbye To Joel Schumacher
I fear that we, as fans, never got the proper chance to say goodbye to Joel Schumacher, or to even see him have one last hurrah. His final feature film credit was the under-seen Nicolas Cage film Trespass in 2011. Beyond a 2012 music video for The Killing Floor and two episodes of House of Lies in 2013, Schumacher’s directing career quietly fizzled out in his later years.
Schumacher deserved a better sendoff than that as he is someone who brought some genuinely great and memorable moments to the big screen. Bringing The Schumacher Cut of Batman Forever to life gives Warner Bros. the chance to give Schumacher the sendoff that he never had – and the one he truly deserves.
Moreover, the Schumacher Cut would give fans the opportunity to recontextualtize Batman Forever and, in turn, praise Schumacher in a way that he wasn’t praised for in 1995 upon the film’s first release. While Forever wasn’t universally bashed in the same way that Batman and Robin was, critics nor audiences didn’t exactly shower the movie with love back in the day either.
A new re-cut gives fans the chance to see the film as it was meant to be seen, offering new praise for his true vision while also giving Schumacher one final beloved film to add to his billing as a tribute to his work. It would be the ultimate tribute to his work as a director to unveil the film that he really made.
1. To Prove Batman Forever Wasn’t Even That Bad
Beyond anything else, a re-cut and simultaneous re-examination of Batman Forever gives us a chance to finally admit that the film really isn’t as bad as people have made it out to be for so damn long. Heck, in the same breath, we should be able to acknowledge that Batman and Robin isn’t that bad either; Bat Nipples and all.
Is Batman Forever flawed? Yes. Is it a little silly? Of course, but it’s also no more sillier than the legendary Adam West Bat-flick (and its respective show) we continue to praise as classics. If nothing else, both Batman films in Schumacher’s catalog – Batman Forever especially – were victims of circumstance.
Batman Forever had to follow up two Batman films from Tim Burton which, to this day, are considered to be two of the best and darkest films in the Bat franchise. Schumacher’s campier approach arriving so soon afterwards was always going to divide audiences, but most of that division comes with an unfair rep.
If releasing The Schumacher Cut is what finally allows fans to give the director and his film the respect that they both deserve – and especially showcase to them that he was capable of delivering both campiness and dark atmospheres as the multi-faceted and talented director that he was – then hey, release the Schumacher Cut, Warner Bros!
We’re begging for the Schumacher Cut of Batman Forever and it would undeniably be the perfect way for Warner Bros. and us, as fans, to pay their respects to Schumacher’s overall legacy in the entertainment industry.