The debate over Batgirl’s sudden and unexplainable cancellation rages on. The film, set in the DC Extended Universe, was shelved under new Warner Bros. Discovery management due to poor test screening scores. The cancellation raised several questions over WBD’s management decisions, their vision for the streaming business, and the overall entertainment decision. Given that the film already had undergone primary production and had taken substantial investment, the cancellation has drawn mixed responses from the fans. In contrast, the cast and crew of Batgirl have expressed their disappointment.

Now, through his podcast, The Town, Matthew Belloni has shed some light on potential plot details of Batgirl. The film, starring Leslie Grace in the lead role, was supposed to be a fresh origin story for the character. The new details suggest that Batgirl could have been a raw comic book movie adaptation without metahuman elements, thus, going straight for the character’s roots.
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They were trying to figure out what the ending was, but like the fundamentals here – the stakes are small. Firefly is just a dude in a suit who may or may not have killed Batgirl’s mother early on; it was a fire or something. I don’t want to get into the details of the plot, which he said [was] very convoluted and involved multiple boyfriends and mob bosses, and there may or may not have been a reference to Jason Todd, who is a big character in the DC Universe, but there’s no Robin in this movie. They do show Michelle Pfeiffer’s Catwoman mask, a nice little Easter egg, although Michelle Pfeiffer is not in the movie. This was supposed to come after Flash.

The details reveal how Brendan Fraser’s Firefly would have come into place. The ‘mob bosses’ reference could have been about Jacob Scipio’s character called Anthony Bressi. The reference to Michelle Pfeiffer’s mask from Batman Returns could have solidified Tim Burton’s films merger into the DCEU. All these ideas seem like a good collective approach to bringing the character of Barbara Gordon on-screen. Furthermore, the details of the film’s presence in the timeline could have clarified DCEU’s future plans for Batman and as a franchise.

Batgirl Was Supposed to Come After The Flash

Batgirl was first announced as an HBO Max original with directors Adil Arbi and Billal Fallah attached to it. The director-duo was supposed to work on the film after completing Marvel Studios’ Ms. Marvel. After Leslie Grace was confirmed as the lead, the film also signed Michael Keaton as Batman, connecting the dots between Tim Burton’s Batman films and the DC Extended Universe. Though not extensive, Keaton’s role in the movie could supposedly have ended confusion on DCEU’s timeline of events, bringing consistency to the shared continuity. Now that the film is canceled, the franchise again calls for confusion and speculation.

Belloni’s details about the film’s plot match the rumors about Snyder’s vision for DCEU being erased and rewritten in The Flash. These speculations suggested how The Flash would pave the way for Michael Keaton’s original Batman to replace Ben Affleck’s Batman from Snyder’s films. Though these speculations have been challenged, the move would have allowed Warner Bros. and DC Films to officially sway from Snyder’s established timeline in his first three movies. However, with Batgirl canceled and Affleck once again donning the cowl for the Aquaman sequel hints that the original timeline is still in place.

As per the reports, the film was supposed to take place after The Flash. After DC’s shake-up in the release schedule, things got more complicated as Batgirl still retained the 2022 release, and The Flash was pushed to 2023, thus, raising further confusion about the franchise’s continuity. Now we know why Batgirl’s release date wasn’t updated.

The screening reports say that Batgirl wasn’t that good of a movie, and fans’ first reactions to Leslie Grace’s official first look were not highly appreciative. However, a faction of fans supported the film, mainly because of Brendan Fraser’s involvement in it as the lead villain. The film could have offered us a promising story, but now it is doubtful it will happen.