Descriptions of deleted Justice League scenes made their way online shortly after the movie’s debut. Cutting a few scenes may not have had an earth-shattering impact, but the absence of some of them demonstrated how important even the smallest detail can be.

The ancient battle between Steppenwolf and his Parademons and the alliance of Man, Amazons, and Atlanteans was one of the most highly anticipated scenes in Justice League. The buzz surrounding this particular scene was incredible, so fans were understandably disappointed when they finally saw the movie.

While it was still an awesome piece, it was obvious that Diana Prince's voice-over didn't play a significant role in the final cut. In addition, it appeared that the scene had been shortened. Now we know why we felt this way.

Zeus, Ares, the Green Lantern, Hippolyta, and Antiope actually had lines during that battle scene, presumably to offer a bit of backstory. Not only was the dialogue deleted, a number of interesting details were altered.

Ares stuntman Nick McKinless gave us a look at Zack Snyder's design and appearance. His resemblance to David Thewlis came about through the use of CGI, but don't worry if you didn't catch it, because not many people did.

 

#justiceleague was a cool experience which I used to learn about body composition training. I had no trainer or coach, and learned myself the old fashioned way, boys and girls. A very different type of training for me after years of athletic and strength-based training. Not sure I'll ever get that lean again! I ended up at 6% and 100 kg/220 lbs., which was my original goal, and with “veins like worms and paper-thin skin” as per #zacksnyder "˜s requirements. #sergiconstance who was Zeus and #aurorelauzeral as Artemis are both at the peak of their athletic careers, so it was nice to stand with them as the old man of the Gods. Thanks to me old mate Eunice Hutheart. #therealares #tunawatermiso #nocreditagain @maxphysiquephoto

A post shared by nickmckinless (@nickmckinless) on Nov 23, 2017 at 6:33am PST

 

This is the original look I was asked to reproduce by Zack for #ares on #justiceleague, only “leaner and nastier”. For anyone interested, this was about a month into the diet. This was also before about 12 to 15 different iterations of the character’s look we went through. Personally, I liked this look the best. What do you think? Thanks to DC and Zack and Eunice for the opportunity. #ares #justiceleague #oldgods #sagwouldabeennice

A post shared by nickmckinless (@nickmckinless) on Nov 30, 2017 at 7:48am PST

Steppenwolf, the powerful supervillain who prompted the League to unite, was supposed to be more fleshed-out. Check out more here. What’s new is a particular detail about his weapon of choice, which actor Ciaran Hinds calls the Electro Axe:

Steppenwolf's real powers are wielded through this extraordinary weapon he has, the Electro Axe, which is almost like a part of him. It creates mayhem and decimates everything around it. Even when it's at rest, it looks threatening (via Screen Rant).

Again, none of this is seen in the theatrical cut.

Lastly, Snyder's original vision for the Parademons was also altered. According to production designer Patrick Tatopoulos, the initial objective was for the audiences to distinguish between the different types of Parademons based on their glowing eyes. This detail did make it into the film, but it’s obvious that more thought was originally put into the creation of these nameless soldiers than we actually saw on the screen:

They're clearly a different species. And they're not just black or gray. It was important to us that even the evil characters retain their colors. They are not just the stereotypical dark things, but something else, something more interesting (via Screen Rant).

Check out the designs here, along with additional behind-the-scenes details, including the Electro Axe!