20 Years Ago This Week, Warner Bros Butchered An Incredible DC Movie (& Took 2 Years To Fix It)

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It’s pretty normal for movie and TV studios to ask for scenes to be re-shot before something is released, and those working on the project often have to meticulously edit everything together. This happens with many productions – think shows like House of the Dragon, and movies like Independence Day and Back to the Future. Usually, these late changes improve things, though sometimes they don’t. But it’s very unusual for a film to almost be canceled, then heavily edited and released years later. That’s precisely what happened with this particular, often debated, DC project.

Originally planned for a Halloween 2000 release, Batman Beyond: Return of the Joker faced delays due to concerns about violence in media following the 1999 Columbine High School tragedy. Warner Bros. executives worried about the film’s content and asked the creators to make significant edits. As a result, the movie wasn’t released until December 2000. It took two years and a large number of fan requests, but the original, uncut version of Batman Beyond: Return of the Joker was eventually released.

What We Got Was Almost Unrecognizable From The Original

After the film was first released, fans started numerous online petitions and voiced strong opinions demanding the original, uncut version. Warner Home Video eventually listened and released an unrated version of Return of the Joker that included more violence, different language, and the Joker’s original death scene – which was the biggest change made to the film. The PG-13 version shown in theaters had the Joker shot and impaled by an exploding flag. However, the unrated version shown on television featured a more graphic death where the Joker is electrocuted after getting caught in some water tubing.

Since both films came out, fans have created websites to carefully compare the original and edited versions, looking at each scene in detail. These changes range from overly aggressive cuts to edits that seem pointless, leaving many viewers wondering why the films were altered.

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2025-10-25 21:13