Batgirl: this superhero movie you’ll never see

4 – WHEN SHOULD THIS BE RELEASED?

Signed by the director duo Adil El Arbi and Bilall Fallah (Bad Boys For Life, Miss Marvel), Batgirl never had a specific release date. Originally, the project was a feature film intended for the big screen written by Joss Whedon but, following accusations of inappropriate behavior, he walked away from the project in February 2018.

It was then that Warner’s choice shifted to the duo El Arbi-Fallah to replace it, and it was decided that the feature film would finally be released on the HBO Max platform in 2022 or 2023. We did not know then that ‘he would never get out there!

3 – WHAT WAS THE SCENARIO?

After the departure of Joss Whedon, Warner is starting from scratch with his Batgirl film. He entrusts the reins to Christina Hodson, rising screenwriter of the blockbuster, spotted for her film Bumblebee and hired directly by Warner to supervise three films from the DC universe: Birds of Prey, Batgirl and return to The Flash. His trademark ? She works alone.

She is working on Batgirl starting in April 2018, and the story has been kept secret until now. We just know that it is Barbara Gordon, daughter of Commissioner Gordon, who will don the costume of Batgirl to face the arsonist Firefly and (according to rumor) Killer Moth, a spider-loving killer.

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In the podcast The Town, held by a Hollywood insider, it is said that the film was to have low stakes and that it was a sort of Christmas film with nods to Jason Todd (a version of Robin who becomes Red Hood) and Michelle Pfeiffer’s Catwoman mask. As for Firefly, he would have been presented as the murderer of Barbara’s mother (and therefore of Commissioner Gordon’s wife).

2 – WHO SHOULD PLAY IN IT?

The superhero Barbara Gordon / Batgirl was played by Leslie Grace, singer seen in the cinema in the musical comedy Where We Come From by Jon M. Chu. It was to be his second fictional role.

Warner Bros.

The rest of the casting is quite surprising, since the film was to have Commissioner Gordon from Zack Snyder’s DC universe (JK Simmons), the Batman from the Tim Burton version (Michael Keaton) and in the role of the villainous Firefly an actor from the universe of Greg Berlanti: Brendan Fraser, who already plays Clifford Steele and Robotman in the Doom Patrol series.

Finally, Ivory Aquino was to play Alysia Yeoh, Barbara’s best bartender friend and Ethan Kai was to play a secret but “main” role.

1 – WHY DIDN’T IT HAPPEN?

Filming of Batgirl was completed in March 2022 and on August 2, several very official American media such as Variety report that Warner has decided to pull the film from its schedule. The reason officially given then is not linked to the quality of the film, but to the fact that the studio abandoned the idea of ​​​​shooting films exclusively for the HBO Max platform and that with its small budget, Batgirl did not the stature to be shown in cinemas.

Furthermore, the firm had already spent 90 million dollars on the film, or 15 more than the 75 initially planned due to postponements due to COVID, and would not have wanted to put several more millions into the finalization of a film that had already been planned. very expensive.

DC Comics

On January 31, 2023, Peter Safran, co-president of DC Studios with James Gunn, told Variety that the film is “unsortable”while emphasizing the talent of those who made it, and adding: “[Le PDG de Warner Bros Discovery] Zaslav and his team made a bold and courageous decision because it would have harmed DC, as well as everyone involved.”

Upon hearing the news, Leslie Grace told that she felt like “a deflating balloon”commenting indirectly on Safran’s remarks: “When words are said bluntly towards people who have really dedicated a lot of time – me but also the whole team – I understand how frustrating it can be.”

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Brendan Fraser will add: “I find it sad that a whole new generation of little girls are still going to have to wait to see Batgirl and think ‘she looks like me’.”

Will we ever see this film? Probably not in the coming years. Still, Leslie Grace could still become the Batgirl of the new DC universe supervised by Gunn and Safran. The question is: will the actress be willing to try the experience again?