The streets of Gotham might not be seeing Barbara Gordon any time soon. Reports of some Warner Bros. Discovery decisions are making waves online today as news broke that, reportedly, the DC Comics film Batgirl, which was originally slated for an HBO Max release, is now being shelved completely. It came with the news that the animated feature Scoob!: Holiday Haunt is also being shelved.
The news is … uh … a choice, given the title they still have in the lineup starring Ezra Miller, despite … everything going on with them. According to reports, the move is a “cost-saving” one, and those in charge have decided to shelve an already finished movie that cost nearly $90 million dollars instead of … putting it on HBO Max. Instead, they’re just going to drop it completely (according to the news). To that, I say: This is some bullshit.
The movie was set to star In The Heights star Leslie Grace as Barbara Gordon and was bringing Michael Keaton back as Bruce Wayne/Batman. It was also the first outing for Barbara Gordon and was bringing in a new era for the franchise by having a woman of color lead the charge. Instead, now it’s just being forgotten, and for what? Because it wasn’t reportedly testing well enough with audiences for Warner Bros. Discovery to warrant a theatrical release or dropping it to HBO Max?
What doesn’t sit well with me, personally, is the fact that it was boiled down to test audiences and not given some sort of tease as a wider release. With the rest of the problems that currently are marring the DCEU, this feels like a weird move and one that is only going to cause more distaste for the DCEU as a whole, given the excitement fans had for both Grace as Barbara Gordon and the return of Keaton as Batman.
Why Batgirl when The Flash has problems?
It’s one thing to make a money-saving move prior to the film being finished. It’s another when the movie is finished. Pair that with the fact that Christina Hodson, who wrote the screenplay, is one of the only writers for the DCEU who has brought a fun and fresh story to the franchise with Birds of Prey. But the bigger issue here is that The Flash seems to be just sitting there, with no moves or information on what they’re doing with it.
Ezra Miller has been in the news in a disturbing way throughout most of this year and, frankly, throughout most of the pandemic, but they seem to be still part of the DC roster without any news either way on Warner Bros. addressing the situation. Canceling Batgirl because of some test audiences is not a choice I understand.
I hope that the current report is wrong and that we’ll still get to see Leslie Grace as Barbara Gordon. She deserves her time, Michael Keaton deserves a better return to this world, and with the mess that is the rest of the DCEU, maybe shelving Batgirl isn’t the right move.
(featured image: Warner Bros.)
