SPOILER ALERT: The following article contains spoilers for Batman v Superman: Dawn Of Justice. If you have not yet had a chance to see the film, and don’t wish to have any of the surprises ruined, please click away to another one of our wonderful articles!
Thanks to a slew of rumors and reports from the last two years and trailers filled with third act footage, Batman v Superman: Dawn Of Justice didn’t have too many surprises by the time that it finally hit theatrical release, but there was one special cameo that managed to stay under the radar: Kevin Costner as Jonathan Kent. How did this scene stay a secret through the blockbuster’s long development? It helps that it was scheduled for the low-key final day of production.
The press day for the new thriller Criminal was held in Los Angeles this weekend, and it was while sitting down for a quick chat with Kevin Costner that I took the opportunity to ask about his Batman v Superman: Dawn of Justice. I asked him about how the scene between him and Henry Cavill’s Clark Kent came together and remained a secret, and the Oscar-winner explained,
It was the last day of the movie for them. They didn’t even have a chance to throw a party they were so tired. It wasn’t like the first thing, where I had a series of four scenes – albeit small – that, I think, built a character. This one was very ethereal. I haven’t seen it either. So I don’t even know how it played in the movie… the metaphor of ‘try to do the right thing, and it has a downstream of something else.’ That was for Zack [Snyder].
In Batman v Superman: Dawn of Justice, the titular Man of Tomorrow has a vision of his Earth father while hiking and clearing his mind after the senate explosion. In the "ethereal" moment, Kevin Costner’s Pa Kent relays a story to his son from his youth, telling him about the time when he saved the farm from floodwaters, but later discovered that the diverted water still wound up causing death and destruction. The discussion eventually convinces Superman to return from his isolation to Metropolis/Gotham.
You can watch Kevin Costner talk about his Batman v Superman: Dawn of Justice cameo below:
Batman v Superman: Dawn of Justice is in theaters now, and you’ll be able to catch Kevin Costner in Criminal on April 15th.
