The Joker and The Riddler were *this* close to being in Batman v Superman

We already know that Ben Affleck's Batman cameos in Suicide Squad, and now it turns out that the Clown Prince of Crime himself nearly made it into Batman v Superman: Dawn of Justice along with another classic Batman villain.

"The Joker and The Riddler both came close to being in this movie," Snyder tells Collider in a recent interview. "We talked about the possibility of putting them in. [Screenwriter] Chris Terrio and I talked about it a lot and felt that their mythological presence is felt in the movie and that’s cool, but I didn’t want to get my eye too far off the ball because I needed to spend the time, frankly, with Batman and Superman to understand the conflict."

It's understandable that the two rogues got the snip. Dawn of Justice has enough villains - Lex Luthor and Doomsday are the big bads, and there's the possibility of Darkseid showing up. As for the "mythological presence" that Snyder mentions, for The Joker it's probably the graffiti-ruined Robin suit spotted in trailers. Following that line of thinking, it looks like we'll be getting a similar reference to The Riddler, who hasn't been in a movie since 1995's Batman Forever. Remember Jim Carrey in that green leotard? Here, let me refresh your memory:

And hey, and let's not forget when the first Dawn of Justice trailer dropped and eagle-eyed fans spotted this familiar sign:

That could be The Riddler easter egg, but by the sounds of it Snyder might reference something a bit more obvious. Perhaps another trophy piece in Batman's cave?

Directed by Zack Snyder and starring Henry Cavill, Ben Affleck, Diane Lane, Gal Gadot, Jesse Eisenberg, Jeremy Irons, Laurence Fishburne, and Amy Adams, Batman v Superman: Dawn of Justice will arrive in UK and US cinemas on March 25, 2016.

Images: Warner Bros.