To say that Batman v Superman: Dawn of Justice is a controversial film is putting it lightly. Much like its title characters, DC Comics fandom seem to be tearing itself apart over the grim, gritty superhero slugfest, with some fans very much on board with Zack Snyder‘s vision and others yearning for the halcyon days of Christopher Nolan. Regardless of your thoughts on the film — which has made more than $800 million worldwide — we can be grateful that one thing didn’t make it into the movie: Robin almost wielded a massive battle-axe instead of his iconic quarterstaff, as revealed by DigitalSpy in their preview of Titan Books’ Batman v Superman: Dawn of Justice – Tech Manual.

Now, if you’re anything like me, your first thought was, “Wait, why is that bad? A massive battle-axe sounds rad!” And it does sound rad, dear reader. However, why would the Boy Wonder need a massive bladed weapon — a halberd to be precise — in order to fight crime and bring criminals to justice? The answer would seem to imply that Batman’s young ward was just as murdery as the Dark Knight is in what io9 refers to as the “DC Cinematic Murderverse.” The moniker is not unwarranted either; Batman winds up slaughtering a buttload of goons over the course of Batman v Superman, so it would make sense that he’d instill some of these values in his protege. Then again, maybe Robin’s death was the straw that broke the camel’s back, so to speak, and pushed him over his self-imposed line in the sand to deliver the kind of justice some would say Gotham deserves.

The final weapon that made it into the film is more akin to a spear, which — spoiler alert — Bruce Wayne transforms into the Kryptonite spear he uses to combat Superman. The spear is first scene on display with the deceased Robin’s old superhero suit. The grim memorial is emblazoned with yellow text reading, “Hahah, joke’s on you, Batman,” which we are meant to understand is a souvenir a fateful encounter between Robin and the Joker that left the Boy Wonder dead. Presumably this is a reference to the infamous 1988 “A Death in the Family” storyline, in which readers voted on a 1-900 number on whether or not Robin should live or die.

So what does it all mean? Join Kyle Hill and me today on Nerdist News for a deep dive into the DC Extended Universe and what might have been in Batman v Superman: Dawn of Justice.

And for the complete list of behind-the-scenes discoveries, including Batman’s brass knuckles and the many evolutions of the Batman logo design, check out DigitalSpy.

What do you think of these revelations? What would your crimefighting weapon of choice be? Are you cool with the DCEU being hyperviolent and a li’l bit murdery? Let us know in the comments below.

Dan Casey is the senior editor of Nerdist and the author of books about Star Wars and the Avengers. Follow him on Twitter (@Osteoferocious) and ask him about the DCEU.