In 2022 and 2023, Warner Bros. had some navigating to do around some projects in their DCEU franchise. On the positive side, fans of the original Tim Burton Batman film had two new opportunities to see Michael Keaton return as the Dark Knight in the upcoming movies The Flash and Batgirl, but those projects would be marred by controversy as The Flash star, Ezra Miller, had loads of legal troubles, and the David Zaslav regime of Warner Bros. saw the very public shelving of Batgirl. Batgirl was set to premiere on the streaming platform of HBO Max and while the movie had entered post-production, the decision was made to cancel the movie for a tax write-off.
At the time, comments would be made by Batgirl stars Leslie Grace, Michael Keaton and Brendan Fraser about their takes on the situation. Directors Adil El Arbi and Bilall Fallah would also share their perspectives on the turn of events. Recently, J.K. Simmons would reflect on the whole debacle on the Happy Sad Confused podcast. According to Deadline, Simmons started to explain,
It’s bizarre. Apparently, one test audience saw it, and you know, it wasn’t like it was a bad score from the test audience. It was a whatever business decision obviously, and then, Justice League, which was a very small part, had its own drama attached to it. But then Zack’s cut… the director’s cut came out, which the DC fans really love.”sponsored content
He would continue,
When Batgirl came along with Adil and Bilall, it was an exciting prospect to be part of the origin story of Batgirl. For those who don’t know, Commissioner Gordon’s daughter. Maybe we’ll never know… We really had a good time making it and thought it was going to be a fun superhero movie. Oh well.”
Simmons is currently on the promotional circuit for his new crime drama, The Westies. We recently got to review the show, but our Alex Maidy wasn’t totally head-over-heels about it, giving it a 6/10. He tries to stay positive in the conclusion of his review, “The Westies benefits from audience familiarity with dozens of gang and mafia shows and movies that came before it, and manages to make this eight-episode first season a lot of violent fun to watch. I hope audiences connect with The Westies as the series ends on a note that promises an even better second season. Come for J.K. Simmons and stay for the solid ensemble cast. The Westies is a worthwhile new crime show if you like your gang stories with a heavy dose of early-80s flair.”