Jor-El, Superman's Kryptonian father, played a big role in 2013's Man of Steel. He saved his infant son from an exploding Krypton by sending him to Earth. Even in death, he continued to be guiding voice for Kal-El in times of need. However, the character never reappeared in Batman v Superman: Dawn of Justice.
In an interview with Digital Spy while promoting his new movie, The Nice Guys, Russell Crowe revealed why that is. Apparently, nobody asked him about reprising the role for Batman v Superman. He said:
Originally — I could be completely wrong — I think there was a number of Superman movies. But I think they made the decision to jump past those and go to the idea of Batman and Superman in the same film. So, no, I didn't have any discussions about that at all.
It looks like the reason is simply because Jor-El wouldn't be relevant to the follow-up story any longer. To be fair, even if people assumed that the next movie after Man of Steel would be another story about Kal-El, when Warner Bros. announced Batman v Superman during the San Diego Comic-Con, it was clear that the movie would focus on two characters.
That said, it seems unlikely that the next Superman film would be about the bond between father and son when Jor-El was killed off in Man of Steel. True enough, the name of the supposed Man of Steel follow-up was announced as Batman v Superman: Dawn of Justice, and it was clear that Superman's father wouldn't be a part of the story.
It also makes sense that he wasn't included since the movie is already overstuffed in sub-plots, even Alfred actor Jeremy Irons seems to think so. Deadpool creator Rob Liefeld also thought the movie tried to focus too much due to the bevy of characters it needed to feature. Adding Jor-El into the fray would have just made things more confusing.
At this point, I don't see how else Jor-El could appear in the DC Universe. Maybe he can guide Superman again when his artificial consciousness is found and inserted into another Kryptonian ship in the Justice League films. I guess we'll find out when Justice League: Part One hits theaters on November 17, 2017.
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