More footage from behind-the-scenes of the now canceled DC outing, Batgirl, has made its way online and shows Leslie Grace’s superhero and Brendan Fraser’s supervillain in action. Released via the DCEUleaks subreddit, the footage from filming includes several shots of the title character as she does battle with the pyromaniac Firefly.

Now that the HBO Max release of Batgirl has been canceled, to the shock of DC fans, industry insiders, and even the cast and crew behind the project, it’s likely that footage such as this will be all we ever see of Batgirl in action. Unless someone leaks it, of course…

Work on a standalone Batgirl movie first began all the way back in 2017, with The Avengers’ Joss Whedon hired to write the project. After walking away over struggles to come up with a story, Birds of Prey writer Christina Hodson was brought on board to write a new screenplay for Batgirl, with Bad Boys for Life directors Adil El Arbi and Bilall Fallah signing on to helm the DC outing. In the Heights star Leslie Grace would have starred as Barbara Gordon AKA Batgirl, alongside J. K. Simmons as James Gordon, Brendan Fraser as Ted Carson AKA Firefly, and Michael Keaton as an aged Bruce Wayne AKA Batman.
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According to renowned movie journalist Matthew Belloni, Batgirl would have told the origin of the character amid small, personal stakes. “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,” Belloni revealed before describing the plot as “very convoluted and involved multiple boyfriends and mob bosses.” Batgirl would have reportedly featured a host of Easter eggs, including references to Jason Todd, Michelle Pfeiffer’s Catwoman, and would have taken place after the upcoming The Flash.

Batgirl Will Never Be Released, Warner Bros. Discovery Mapping Out 10-Year Plan for DC Universe

Warner Bros. Pictures

Sadly, this is likely all we will ever see from Batgirl, which will now never see release in any format. The decision to cancel the movie so close to it being finished has been met with much scrutiny and has reportedly come as a result of the studio wanting to focus on big-budget, big-screen adventures for DC characters. And all in the name of profit, obviously.

Reports since have stated that “studio insiders insist the decision was not driven by the quality of the film or the commitment of the filmmakers, but by the desire for the studio’s slate of DC features to be at a blockbuster scale.”

President and CEO of Warner Bros. Discovery David Zaslav has offered some insight into the plan for the DC universe, revealing that they now have a ten-year plan for the franchise. “You look at Batman, Superman, Wonder Woman, Aquaman — these are brands that are known everywhere in the world, we have done a reset,” Zaslav explained. “We’ve restructured the business where we are going to focus, where there is going to be a team with a 10-year plan focusing just on DC. We believe we can build a much more sustainable business.”

No doubt this latest footage will add further to the disappointment that Batgirl will never see the light of day.