Val Kilmer, famous for roles such as Iceman in Top Gun and Bruce Wayne in Batman Forever, celebrated his 65^th birthday earlier this week, with fans of the actor as well as fans of Batman giving their birthday wishes. Coinciding with the event, DC fans united once again and demanded for Warner Bros. to release the “Schumacher Cut” of Batman Forever.

The mysterious cut of the film has been rumored to exist for years, but the cut was dragged back into the spotlight in August when screenwriter for the film Akiva Goldsman confirmed that the Schumacher Cut exists and is nearly ready to be released. Warner Bros. has never announced that they would be releasing the version, so the legitimacy is questionable. However, if it does indeed exist, it would not be unprecedented for them to release this type of director’s cut. Warner released Zach Snyder’s Justice League for Max back in 2021. That cut required reshoots and lots of post-production, which is much more work than the Schumacher Cut would supposedly need. Warner Bros. has admitted that the film has been test screened to private audiences in the past, so hope for fans is unlikely to die if they know it is out there somewhere.

The Schumacher Cut supposedly features around 50 minutes of unused footage and restructures Batman Forever into a darker and more serious film, diving deep into what being Batman means to Bruce Wayne. Batman Forever is a loose continuation of Tim Burton’s Batman and Batman Returns, with a new director and new lead actor, with Michael Keaton being replaced by Val Kilmer. The film was reworked into a more light-hearted and comical action comedy, a departure from the noir crime thrillers that came before. This change was famously made after parent outrage to Batman Returns being marketed towards kids while featuring some grotesque imagery and brutal deaths.

While Batman Forever’s legacy is an interesting one with mixed opinions from fans, it also is the most forgotten live-action Batman film, sandwiched between the Burton classics and the widely panned Batman & Robin. Still, it is no mystery that Schumacher had creative differences with the studio, and it would be a treat to see what could have been.