When Warner Bros. Discovery decided to pull the plug on Batgirl—even though principal photography had wrapped—fans and filmmakers alike were left reeling. It was an unprecedented move and one that saw Adil El Arbi and Bilall Fallah's DC Comics adaptation deemed "unreleasable" in reports from the trades.
Seeing as moviegoers had already suffered through the likes of Black Adam and The Flash, it was hard to believe a title made for Max could really be that bad. Ultimately, it felt like David Zaslav wanted to save money by scrapping a movie which wouldn't recoup its costs from a streaming debut.
For what it's worth, DC Studios co-CEO Peter Safran has said Batgirl "was not releasable" and, perhaps predictably, praised "Zaslav and the team [for making a] very bold and courageous decision to cancel it because it would have hurt DC."
As the DCEU's new Caped Crusader following Ben Affleck's disappearance in The Flash, Michael Keaton was enlisted to return as Batman alongside Leslie Grace's Barbara Gordon.
Batgirl looked set to be a big break for her and Jacob Scipio. The latter was cast as gangster Anthony Bressi, and in a recent interview with The Direct, the actor confirmed he got to see a near-finished cut of the ill-fated DC movie.
"I got the chance to watch it, and it was a phenomenal film," he told the site. "Man, I'm really sad the world never got to see it. But you know, you never know. You never know."
"It was great that they saved ['Coyote V. Acme']. I'm gonna have a ticket and be buying my ticket and seeing that movie myself," Scipio continued. "So there's always hope. Hollywood's a funny place, and I think if enough people want it, it can happen."
It's a nice thought, but unlikely to happen. There's even been talk of Batgirl being deleted after a "funeral screening" was held for cast and crew, and it doesn't add up for James Gunn to take a movie shot over three years ago, finish it, and make it canon to the DCU...it features the wrong Batman, for starters.
It could always be an Elseworlds tale, of course, but the moment has passed. "No, I didn't care one way or another. Big, fun, nice check," Keaton said last year. "I like [Batgirl directors Adil El Arbi and Bilall Fallah]. They're nice guys. I pull for them. I want them to succeed, and I think they felt very badly, and that made me feel bad. Me?" he added, shrugging. "I'm good."
The plan had been for Batgirl to lead to this Dark Knight taking centre stage in a Batman Beyond project, likely meaning we could have looked forward to the Bat Family being part of the now-defunct DCEU. Instead, DC Studios has rebooted the franchise as the DCU, with a new Bruce Wayne set to take centre stage in The Brave and the Bold.
Are you disappointed that the "phenomenal" Batgirl won't see the light of day?