10 DC Movie Easter Eggs And Setups That Led Nowhere

Even before the days when every single one of them existed with the confines of a cinematic universe, Easter eggs and sequel setups were a tradition in superhero movies, and many are designed to give fans a hint about what's coming up next.

Although the Marvel Cinematic Universe has popularised the post-credits stinger, DC movies have been setting up future instalments with fan-pleasing references since the days when Batman was in the capable hands of Tim Burton.

Fast-forward to modern times, and the series unofficially known as the DC Extended Universe is full of Easter eggs, some more subtle than others, as well as references and in-jokes only true fans fully appreciate. While many of these are just-for-fun inclusions, others could turn out to be hugely significant further down the line.

But there are also Easter eggs, blatant sequel setups and references that have lead absolutely nowhere, sometimes because the movie they belong to bombed and a follow-up was no longer viable, and at other times because plans changed somewhere along the way, forcing the powers that be to course correct.

When Batman made his cinematic debut in '89, the name Harvey Dent only meant something to fans of the comics. Moviegoers with limited knowledge of the source material will have been oblivious to the significance of Billy Dee Williams's character.

The only reason Tim Burton included Dent was to transform him into Two-Face in a future sequel. Burton's original plan was for this to happen in Batman Returns, with Gotham's district attorney taking on the role that eventually went to Max Shreck, gaining his scars during the final act when Catwoman kisses and electrocutes him.

There were tentative plans for Williams to reprise his role for Batman Forever, back when it was a Burton project, even though the decision to bench him for Returns denied the filmmaker the chance to tell the origin he intended.

The Star Wars actor was set to play Two-Face alongside Robin Williams's Riddler in the third Burton Batman, but the project was rebooted when the studio replaced the director with Joel Schumacher. How did that one turn out, Warner Bros?

Tommy Lee Jones, of course, took over the role of Two-Face in the third movie, but given that he neither looks or acts anything like Williams's take on the character, it's fair to say Batman Forever soft rebooted Harvey Dent.