Zack who? Talk of the Joel Schumacher cut of Batman Forever has been going on for quite some time and now one famous Bat-fan is ready to release that edition. Writer/director Kevin Smith has come forward to announce that he not only has a copy of the Schumacher Cut but plans to talk about it next week.
Speaking on the Fatman Beyond podcast, Kevin Smith revealed to co-host Marc Bernadin, “You know what I got a copy of? Batman Forever, the f*ckin’ Schumacher Cut. So guess what I’m gonna do. I probably shouldn’t be talking about this, Warner Bros.’ gonna take my ticket away…I’ve watched it—it’s longer.” Despite the joke, Smith did reveal that there is an extended opening and added that this version is a good copy with a temp score.
After Smith and Bernadin screen the Schumacher Cut of Batman Forever, they will discuss it on the June 19th episode of Fatman Beyond.
Word of the 170-minute Schumacher Cut of Batman Forever got heavy back in 2020, with Bernadin getting word that its existence was far from a myth. “I think that it went much deeper into his childhood psychosis and his mental blocks and that it was a more serious, darker version of that movie that was one of the first assemblies that Joel filed with the studio…” And with such an extended runtime, that would not only allow for a deeper dive into Bruce Wayne’s psyche, but the sequences involving Two-Face at Arkham Asylum, Riddler scoping out the Batcave, Batman squaring off against a human-sized bat, and more. Writer Akiva Goldman even teased, “Batman Forever still has a renaissance coming. I really am interested to see whether the original cut of Batman Forever comes out because I got to see it, recently, the very very first one, which was Preview Cut: One. It was really dark, it was a pretty psychological exploration of guilt and shame.”
If the 170-minute runtime is accurate, that would make the Schumacher Cut of Batman Forever the second-longest ever after last year’s The Batman. Now if we could just get the full-on release fans deserve…
Would you bother watching the Joel Schumacher Cut of Batman Forever? If so, what do you hope to see from it? Give us your thoughts below!