DC Movie Scenes That Made The Actors Miserable In Real Life

DC Entertainment has some of the most iconic superheroes in modern fiction, including Superman, Batman, and Wonder Woman. These characters have been adapted and reimagined for the silver screen and small screen for decades, often boasting some of Hollywood's biggest names in front of and behind the camera. However, not every actor who's appeared in a DC movie has had a completely satisfying production experience or fully enjoy the final films that they star in. These sentiments are often attached to specific scenes, striking a negative chord for the actor involved for a myriad of reasons.

From intense creative disagreements on how their characters should be portrayed to thoroughly uncomfortable behind-the-scenes ordeals, certain DC Comics movie scenes leave negative impressions on the actors in them. These raw feelings exist for some actors even years after the movie itself has since been released. Here are some of the DC movie scenes that actually made their actors miserable in real life.

The modern era of superhero movies really starts with Christopher Reeve's portrayal of Superman in 1978, and he would play the DC flagship character in four total films. Reeve's swan song as the Man of Steel came in 1987's "Superman IV: The Quest for Peace," with the actor having more creative control than its predecessors. Among Reeve's contributions was the movie's central message advocating for global nuclear disarmament, with Superman announcing his plan to completely eliminate nuclear weapons to the United Nations. Among the biggest problems that hindered "Superman IV," however, is that the production studio, The Cannon Group, essentially ran out of money during filming.

One key scene in "Superman IV" has the hero deliver a rousing speech in front of the United Nations headquarters to motivate the public to pursue world peace. Because of budget cuts, the scene was filmed in the industrial English city of Milton Keynes rather than New York City. Reeve singled out the scene as a clear indicator of the movie's poor quality in his autobiography "Still Me," blasting Cannon's excessive cost-cutting. In a separate interview, co-star Jon Cryer recalled Reeve informing him that "Superman IV" was going to be terrible, and Cryer agreed with Reeve's assessment of the low budget.

The 2022 superhero movie "Black Adam" introduced plenty of classic DC characters to the big screen, including the Justice Society of America. Among the heroic figures in the Justice Society is Atom Smasher, played by Noah Centineo, who is still learning the superhero ropes in the film. Atom Smasher is thrown into the deep end, thrust in plenty of action sequences as Black Adam battles throughout the nation of Kahndaq. One scene proved more painful than Centineo anticipated while filming, suffering an injury on set.

While shooting a scene involving Atom Smasher running through the streets of Kahndaq, Centineo accidentally bumped his knee on a car bumper. Reeling from this, Centineo then dislocated his arm as he reacted to the relatively less painful injury. Medics on the scene had to cut open Centineo's costume to pop his shoulder back in, only for him to accidentally dislocate it again moments later. Sometimes playing a superhero hurts, and Centineo definitely has the experience to show for it.

Filmmaker Christopher Nolan's widely beloved "Dark Knight" trilogy concluded in 2012 with "The Dark Knight Rises." In the film, Batman is betrayed by Talia al Ghul, who approaches him romantically under the guise of a businesswoman named Miranda Tate. Played by Marion Cotillard, Talia dies after a car chase through Gotham City, culminating in her truck falling off on an overpass. In an uncharacteristically ham-fisted performance, Talia's death scene has her sneer at the heroes before breathily passing away.

Fans felt Talia's death was one of the more awkwardly handled moments in the film, with Cotillard herself agreeing, at least to an extent. Reflecting on the scene four years later, Cotillard expressed disappointment that Nolan chose the maligned take for her death scene in the final cut. At the same time, Cotillard appeared to stay in good spirits about the whole thing, laughing off the experience. Cotillard observed that fan response to her death scene in "The Dark Knight Rises" felt "disproportionate" and that audiences "overreacted."

In 1995's "Batman Forever," Robin is introduced just in time to help Batman take on the dual threats of Two-Face and the Riddler. Though the two supervillains form a tight alliance in the film, the rapport between co-stars Tommy Lee Jones and Jim Carrey was considerably more contentious behind-the-scenes. Though Carrey, who played the Riddler, approached their working relationship amiably enough, he was surprised to learn what Jones thought of him. Jones, who played Two-Face, didn't keep his opinions to himself when Carrey tried to speak with him.

On the day before Carrey and Jones were supposed to shoot their first major scene together, the two actors crossed paths in a restaurant. Carrey claims Jones' demeanor immediately worsened when he approached, and he told his co-star that he couldn't "sanction your buffoonery." In other interviews, Carrey observed that he found Jones "crusty" on-set, as the two pretended to play nice together. Every time you see the Riddler and Two-Face on-screen together in "Batman Forever," just know Jones likely found the experience excruciating.

Nicolas Cage was linked to playing Superman ever since the failed '90s film project "Superman Lives," going as far as to provide costume fittings before the production was canceled. Decades later, Cage finally realized his dream to play the Man of Steel in 2023's "The Flash" — kind of. As the multiverse is threatened by the time-traveling Dark Flash, glimpses of other DC universes affected by the reality revisions are shown. Among the universes depicted is the proposed "Superman Lives," with Cage's Superman battling a giant spider before looking at the collapsing multiverse.

According to Cage, his Superman scene that appears in "The Flash" was not what he thought it would be until he saw the finished film. Though Cage praised director Andy Muschietti and the level of detail that went into recreating his "Superman Lives" costume, he was baffled by his appearance in the film. Cage was surprised at seeing his Superman fighting the giant spider, as he was simply instructed to act like his character was witnessing the end of the universe. Cage noted his trepidation about the possibility that A.I. was used, before admitting his depiction was ultimately out of his control.

Gal Gadot was far from the only member of the "Justice League" cast to have problems with the production behind-the-scenes. Jason Momoa, who played Aquaman in the film, had his own creative disagreement with the movie's choice of humor. Just as Gadot didn't want Wonder Woman to be the butt of a lame joke, Momoa was protective of how the movie treated his Atlantean character. Momoa went as far as wanting a joke about his character talking to fish to be cut from the film entirely. 

Momoa admitted that he wanted a line where Batman smugly announces Aquaman can talk to fish omitted from the theatrical cut. Understandably protective of his character, Momoa also had concerns that his character came off as overly "grumpy" in the movie. Two years after "Justice League" was released, Momoa became an early vocal advocate for the release of the "Snyder Cut," representing filmmaker Zack Snyder's original vision for the film. This director's cut was ultimately released in 2021, with a much more serious tone that cut many of the theatrical cut's jokes and grumpy Aquaman.