'Justice League' DP Clarifies Comments On Superman's Black Costume

In one of the more disappointing teases-without-a-payoff in 2017, the exclusion of a Black Suit-clad Superman in Justice League may sit near the top of the list.

Fans were first intrigued with a blurry but black image of Henry Cavill in January, a second round of optimism swirled in August when Mattel released a product line that had the Man of Steel in all black, and just before the release of the film a fan made a poster that just tipped the frenzy.

Now, what's worse, is that Fabian Wagner -- who served as the Director of Photography for Zack Snyder in the production -- confirmed to Collider that scenes were shot, and cut, from the film.

He backtracked a little, saying he couldn't remember if it was a screen test or a scene, but knowing that it was at least discussed on set adds to the emotional rollercoaster.

"Yeah you know actually, to be totally honest I just can't remember if we were shooting it as a test or if we were actually shooting it as a full scene with the suit. I definitely shot it, but I just can't remember if it was more of a test or a full scene," he said. "But definitely seeing the black costume was great. So I'm not 100% sure whether that would have been in the movie anyhow.

"I mean, all the Superman scenes were great, and even just shooting Superman in his normal suit was just, you know, a lot of fun for someone who grew up in that era where the Superman movies just had come out and it was just great to shoot those iconic characters like Superman and Batman. For me that was just great fun."

The iconic black costume is based on the "Death and Return of Superman" storyline from DC Comics in the '90s, which Batman v Superman: Dawn of Justice and Justice League loosely adapted. In the storyline, Superman dies after battling and defeating Doomsday, but later returns to take on the Cyborg Superman in a capeless black suit with a silver shield on the chest.

Wagner now turning to this new version of the story is contrary to what he told Inverse in early December.

"There were [scenes shot]," Wagner said. "It's a cool looking costume. Sadly we didn't see that either in the final cut."