Jena Malone cut from 'Batman v Superman: Dawn of Justice'

LOS ANGELES, March 4 (UPI) -- Theatergoers won't see Jena Malone in Batman v Superman: Dawn of Justice after all.

Entertainment Weekly reports the 31-year-old actress was cut from the film's theatrical release but will appear in the movie's R-rated "ultimate edition" on home video.

Malone's role is secret but many fans speculate she will play Barbara Gordon, aka Batgirl. The character is the daughter of Gotham City police commissioner James Gordon, who was portrayed by Gary Oldman in Christopher Nolan's Batman trilogy.

Batman v Superman stars Ben Affleck and Henry Cavill as the titular superheroes, with Gal Gadot as Wonder Woman and Jesse Eisenberg as Lex Luthor. Zack Snyder directed the film, which will be rated PG-13 and run 2 hours and 31 minutes in theaters.

"It's all world-building as much as it is character building," DC Entertainment chief creative officer Geoff Johns said in the March 11 issue of EW. "Batman isn't just a character. He's a character within Gotham City, with all the iconography behind him and the emotional underpinning of Bruce Wayne and the fight for justice."

"Then you have Superman, on the other hand, who has a very different world he lives in and a very different way he operates and in a very different methodology to how he protects people and why he does it," he added. "He doesn't wear a mask."

Malone previously collaborated with Snyder on the fantasy-action movie Sucker Punch, which opened in 2011. The actress praised Snyder at Tampa Bay Comic Con in August but kept mum on her role in Batman v Superman: Dawn of Justice.

"I like Zack, I'll do anything for him," she said. "We'll work again in the future but there's nothing to say about this.

Malone is known for Pride & Prejudice and Into the Wild and played Johanna Mason in The Hunger Games films. The actress will star in The Neon Demon with Keanu Reeves and is also slated for Bottom of the World with Douglas Smith.