2 Years Later, DC's Batgirl Movie Cancelation Now Feels Even Harsher

After two years, DC's decision to cancel Batgirl has aged poorly. DC shocked the superhero community when it announced that its Batgirl movie was scrapped. The film was directed by Adil El Arbi & Bilall Fallah and starred Leslie Grace as the titular hero. While many projects can get canceled in development, Batgirl was almost complete with its production, making the decision more surprising. The film was deemed unreleasable after poor test screenings and Warner Bros. canceled it as a tax write-off to make back most of its budget.

While Batgirl's cancelation was disappointing, it was understood that the movie's quality was beyond saving. DC Studios co-chair Peter Safran said via Variety that Batgirl's release would have "hurt DC" and "hurt those people involved." However, DC had a streak of box office flops after the film's cancelation, making the studio's judgment of quality more questionable. Joker: Folie à deux is another flop that the studio initially had plenty of faith in, but performed well below expectations. Everything that's happened with DC in the last two years makes Batgirl's cancelation even harsher.

The Team Behind Batgirl Show The Movie Had Clear Promise

Batgirl Had A Wonderful Cast And Two Proven Filmmakers As Its Drectors

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The cancelled Batgirl movie had an impressive cast and crew, which makes it hard to believe this film couldn't be released. Besides Grace, the film's cast included J.K. Simmons as Jim Gordon, Brendan Fraser as Firefly, and Michael Keaton as Batman. Grace was coming off her star-making performance in In The Heights and would have been excellent as Barbara Gordon. Additionally, the film's directors have been successful outside this film, so it's hard to believe they made a movie so bad that it needed to be scrapped.

Related Every Upcoming DC Movie In 2024 And Beyond Here's every new DC movie confirmed as in development by WB for 2024 and onwards, including release dates and where they belong in the franchise.

Arbi & Fallah have tapped into the superhero genre with Marvel, as they directed the first two episodes of Ms. Marvel. While it wasn't the MCU's most popular series, the directors did an excellent job establishing the world, tone, and Kamala's relationship with her family. They also revitalized the Bad Boys franchise with Bad Boys for Life and Bad Boys: Ride or Die. Both films were surprise hits for Sony and showcased Arbi & Fallah's fantastic vision for action and comedy. It's tough to believe they botched Batgirl unless significant edits were made to their vision.

Joker 2's Greenlight Story Makes Batgirl's Late Cancelation Look More Bizarre

A Joker Sequel Wasn't Supposed To Happen

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2019's Joker made over $1 billion at the worldwide box office. The film was meant to be a one-off but that all changed after it achieved massive success. According to The Hollywood Reporter, Warner Bros. movie studios' co-heads Michael De Luca and Pamela Abdy were ordered to "fill a bare cupboard" by Warner Bros. Discovery chief David Zaslav. The studio alienated talent with its Project Popcorn disaster, which was when the studio put its 2021 slate on Max the same day they hit theaters.

Related 10 Reasons Joker: Folie a Deux's Box Office Is Such A Disaster Joker: Folie a Deux has fallen short of box office expectations, with a variety of factors contributing to its poor commercial performance.

De Luca and Abdy didn't have a large slate to work with and saw a Joker sequel as a guaranteed success. However, the film was an exceptional risk for Warner Bros. as it was an R-rated musical, and cost $200 million to produce. The studio elected not to do test screenings, and screened it at Venice, which backfired almost immediately as critics and audiences ripped Joker 2 apart on its opening weekend. Warner Bros. will take a massive hit with this film, and it's bizarre to see how lenient the studio was with this film versus the risk-averse strategy it took with Batgirl.

Ending The DCEU With Batgirl Instead Of Aquaman 2 Could've Created A Better Finale For The Franchise

Batgirl Could Have Ended The DCEU On A More Memorable Note

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Batgirl's cancelation was announced in August 2022, a few months before the DCEU's demise became official. The DCEU's collapse was disastrous for Warner Bros. as Black Adam, Shazam: Fury of the Gods, Blue Beetle, and The Flash all bombed at the box office. Aquaman and the Lost Kingdom performed slightly better at the box office, but it still received poor reviews and ended the DCEU on a low note. Since the DCEU was already ending, Batgirl's release would not have done much to hurt the studio's reputation.

The DCU is starting soon with 2025's Superman, and DC's recent failures haven't hurt James Gunn's reputation. It's understood among audiences that these films are separate from the DCU and Batgirl would have been no different. Even if the film wasn't great, seeing Batgirl and Keaton's Batman in a film together would have been a better send-off for the DCEU than Aquaman 2. Warner Bros. took a risk on many of its recent DC films, and it's disappointing that the studio wasn't willing to do the same for Batgirl.

Batgirl Director Adil El Arbi , Bilall Fallah Cast Leslie Grace , Michael Keaton Brendan Fraser , J. K. Simmons Writers Christina Hodson Main Genre Action

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