The Flash saw the return of Michael Keaton as Batman after over 30 years. Adil El Arbi and Bilall Fallah, who directed the cancelled continuation of Keaton’s story in Batgirl, reveal that they were sad about the film’s release.
While The Flash was always set to be Michael Keaton’s grand return as Batman, it wasn’t always meant to be the end. Originally, Keaton was meant to take over as the main Bruce Wayne of the DC Universe, with his next appearance being in the cancelled Batgirl film by Adil El Arbi and Bilall Fallah. After watching The Flash, Arbi reveals he was saddened to not be a part of the grand story:
“We watched it and we were sad,” Arbi revealed. “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.”
According to executives, Batgirl was considered “unreleasable” by DC Studios. While many would point to the fan reception of films like The Flash as an example of the rocky quality of DC projects in recent years, the film was likely deemed so because of a change in direction that led to Michael Keaton being out as the main Batman in the DC Universe. While certainly a sad turn of events, fans can only help Adil El Arbi and Bilall Fallah will have the chance to return to the world of Gotham someday soon.
Is Leslie Grace coming back as Batgirl?
Reports at the time of the Batgirl cancellation indicated that Warner Bros. Pictures Group co-chiefs Michael De Luca and Pam Abdy are considering having Leslie Grace appear as Barbara Gordon in other DC Comics movies. For now, Grace’s Batgirl future remains in doubt as James Gunn and Peter Safran continue mapping out the future of the DC Universe.
Michael Keaton’s Batman, one of the main characters of Batgirl, is set to appear in Ezra Miller’s first cinematic solo outing as The Flash, which is currently slated to hit theaters in Summer 2023. He’s also supposed to be in Aquaman and the Lost Kingdom, but his cameo may have been cut following a recent round of release date shifts.
Adil El Arbi and Bilall Fallah were the directors of the Batgirl movie, working from a script by Christina Hodson, the writer behind Birds of Prey and The Flash. Its cast also included J. K. Simmons as James Gordon, Jacob Scipio as Anthony Bressi, Ivory Aquino as Alysia Yeoh and Brendan Fraser as Firefly. Rebecca Front, Corey Johnson and Ethan Kai were also on board in undisclosed role.
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