Director James Gunn has revealed that a especially disturbing scene involving Lex Luthor in his upcoming film “Superman” was cut from the final version. The scene, set in Luthor’s alternate dimension prison where he traps those who have wronged him, originally depicted Luthor forcing President Vasil Ghurkos to clean up the blood of a murdered character.
In the original cut, after Lex Luthor (Nicholas Hoult) shoots malik, a falafel vendor, in the head, the character’s blood spills onto the platform. Concerned about his shoes, Luthor orders Ghurkos (Zlatko Burić) to clean it up. Ghurkos initially refuses but eventually complies, lying on his back to soak up the blood. Luthor then remarks to Superman, “I’ll see you tomorrow,” before they depart.
gunn explained on the “Happy Sad Confused” podcast that this moment was deemed too extreme even for a test screening, indicating it was a deliberate decision to avoid overly graphic content. While “Superman” is known to feature darker elements than some previous iterations, Gunn felt that focusing on the graphic aftermath of the murder was unnecessary, as the act itself was already a meaningful and upsetting moment in the film.
