Highlights
- Batgirl directors express sadness over the cancellation of their film and feel they could have been part of The Flash.
- Warner Bros executives claimed Batgirl would have hurt the DC brand, contradicting earlier statements about project quality.
- Batgirl had a more grounded tone in contrast to the fantasy elements of The Flash, but directors still want another chance to work with DC.
Batgirl directors Adil El Arbi and Bilall Fallah have come forward to express their feelings about their film being canceled in hindsight after seeing The Flash, which received the brunt of the attention and promotion at the time of Batgirl‘s canning.
Batgirl was set to feature the titular character on her journey to grow as a hero and person. The film’s cast featured the likes of Jacob Scipio and Brendan Fraser in villainous roles and Michael Keaton and J. K. Simmons reprising their iconic roles as Batman and Jim Gordon from prior Batman films alongside leading lady Leslie Grace. Batgirl was switched from a planned theatrical release to a debut on HBO Max, with palpable fan anticipation surrounding its eventual release.
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However, Warner Bros. scrapped the Batgirl film entirely in a highly controversial move that has still not been satisfactorily explained, least of all to co-directors El Arbi and Fallah. Insider interviewed the two filmmakers for an upcoming project when the conversation ventured into DCEU territory. “We watched it and we were sad,” Adil revealed after the focus of discussion turned to The Flash. “We love director Andy Muschietti and his sister Barbara, who produced the movie. But when we watched it, we felt we could have been part of the whole thing. We didn’t get the chance to show Batgirl to the world and let the audience judge for themselves. Because the audience really is our ultimate boss and should be the deciders of if something is good or bad, or if something should be seen or not.”
While the fans didn’t get the opportunity to judge the film, the executives at Warner Bros certainly took a stab at it, with DC Studios boss Peter Safran claiming Batgirl would have hurt the DC brand if released as previously planned. This contradicted the statement given by a Warner Bros. spokesperson at the time of cancellation, which explicitly stated that the quality of the project didn’t factor into the decision. Another source claimed that the film was scrapped because WBD boss David Zaslav wanted all future projects to have a grand theatrical scale, a quality not foremost in mind when creating Batgirl. “Our movie was very different than ‘The Flash,'” Adil admitted. “That has a big fantasy component; ours was more grounded. More like Tim Burton’s Gotham City.”
The Flash, a DCEU project that American audiences believed deserved to be canceled following Ezra Miller’s antics, was the primary focus of the DCEU at the time of Batgirl‘s cancellation in no small part due to its significant budget and its place as a transitory tool to reboot the franchise. The movie’s seemingly unshakable safety in the face of controversy, coupled with Amber Heard’s continued role as Mera in Aquaman and the Lost Kingdom post-Depp trial, acted as catalysts that quickened the anger within the fanbase towards the cancellation of Batgirl. However, the show’s directors have seemingly put the injustice behind them and are willing to work with DC again, with Fallal adding, “There’s still a feeling of unfinished business.”
While the Batgirl directors working with DC again would be a conditional affair, both filmmakers seem motivated to prove themselves to the fans if allowed to be a part of James Gunn and Peter Safran’s rebooted DCU. “Our love for DC, Batman, Batgirl, Gotham City, it’s so big that, as fans, we could never say no to another project,” Adil said in closing. “If we got another chance to be part of it, we’d do it. We didn’t get our day in court. We still want to make our case.”
Source: Insider