Unlike scores of Batgirl fans (myself included), Michael Keaton has no regrets about Warner Bros shelving the Adil El Arbi and Bilall Fallah-directed superhero movie. Keaton suited up as Bruce Wayne/Batman for DC’s The Flash and was supposed to reprise Batman again for Batgirl, but then WB axed the film in favor of a tax cut during a rash of poor decision-making for the company. The move to cancel Batgirl, an all-but-complete film starring actors like Leslie Grace, Brandon Fraser, and J.K. Simmons, sent shockwaves throughout the superhero community, but Keaton appears unaffected.
Speaking with GQ, Michael Keaton discussed Batgirl’s cancellation and whether or not the project’s fate bothers him. “No, I didn’t care one way or another. Big, fun, nice check,” Keaton explains. GQ also mentions that Keaton is “rubbing his fingers together in the universal gesture for moolah.”
While he might not regret the movie never seeing the light of day, Keaton says he enjoyed working alongside Arbi and Fallah on the defunct film. “I like those boys. They’re nice guys,” Keaton said about the directing duo. “I pull for them. I want them to succeed, and I think they felt very badly, and that made me feel bad. Me? I’m good.”
Batgirl was through its post-production stage when Warner Bros canceled it. While the studio said the film “was not releasable,” I find that difficult to believe given the talent involved. Still, Keaton seems to have had a blast playing Batman again for Andrés Muschietti’s The Flash, starring embattled actor Ezra Miller as Barry Allen. The multiverse-focused film finds Miller’s Barry Allen tapping Keaton’s Bruce Wayne for help when faced with an insurmountable threat. Keaton’s Wayne is retired, grizzled, and apathetic when introduced in the film but quickly gets back into the cape and cowl when push comes to shove.
What do you think about Michael Keaton’s attitude toward the cancellation of Batgirl? Is he being too dismissive? Should he present a more sympathetic position, seeing how WB’s decision buried good people’s work? Let us know your thoughts in the comments section below and if you believe Batgirl will ever get leaked.
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