The Batgirl cast is making Batgirl sound like a huge loss

The Batgirl cast is making Batgirl sound like a huge loss

Time Stamp: February 13, 2023 3:42 PM

DC may have already announced a new slate of superhero movies and shows under James Gunn’s leadership, but that hasn’t stopped the cast of Batgirl from talking up how great they thought their canceled movie would have been had it seen the light of day. Over the last week, both Brendan Fraser, who played the villain Firefly, and Batgirl herself, Leslie Grace, talked openly about the superhero movie, despite recent comments from Gunn’s DC Studios co-chairman Peter Safran.

Batgirl was shelved by DC and Warner Bros. in August, despite reports that it was already done filming and nearly complete overall. DC’s latest official-ish statement on Batgirl, and the reasons for its cancellation, came on the day of DC Studios’ big announcement barrage. Safran called the movie “not releasable” and explained that it would have hurt the DC brand to put it out.

Last Tuesday, Brendan Fraser appeared on the Howard Stern show, as part of his award season campaigning for his Oscar-nominated performance in The Whale, and talked a bit about his Firefly in Batgirl.

“It was a story about a guy who had been in the service and his benefits had been cut and he was very angry with the system and what else is he going to do but burn it to the ground?” Fraser said. “That’s all you need to know. Super villain right there. You’ve got some sympathy for him, you’ve got some humanity to him, and on top of that a screw loose because he’s the bad guy. But like, is he really? Like all the best bad guys you kind of like him, a little bit.”

Fraser, while appearing to be not terribly broken up by the fact that the movie will likely never be released, sounded at least a little disappointed that his villainous turn wouldn’t hit theaters or HBO Max.

Meanwhile, on Monday, Leslie Grace mentioned the movie in an interview with Variety. Grace said the movie had its fair share of challenges, but that what she had seen seemed promising.

“I got to see the film as far as it got to; the film wasn’t complete by the time that it was tested,” Grace said. “There were a bunch of scenes that weren’t even in there. They were at the beginning of the editing process, and they were cut off because of everything going on at the company. But the film that I got to see — the scenes that were there — was incredible. There was definitely potential for a good film, in my opinion. Maybe we’ll get to see clips of it later on.”

While it’s only natural that the cast should be proud of the work they did, especially if it’s never going to be seen, it does seem like Batgirl’s lead actors are putting in a bit of extra effort. And with Warner Bros. setting a very strange precedent by releasing Zack Snyder’s Justice League after five years of fan and actor outcry, Batgirl eventually making it online doesn’t seem entirely impossible. However, with the new team of Gunn and Safran at the helm of DC Studios, there are no current plans for this version of Batgirl to return.

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