The superhero genre continues to dominate pop culture, including both TV and film. There are a number of shared universes in play, including the DCEU which ended with Aquaman 2. Fans are still unpacking that franchise (which is streaming with a Max subscription), including the scrapped Batgirl movie. Michael Keaton played Batman in that project, but isn’t upset the film got shelved, recently explaining why he "didn’t care one way or another." Let's break it all down.
Fans were hyped when it was revealed that Keaton was reprising his role as Batman in The Flash as well as Batgirl. Unfortunately Warner Bros. dropped the project after it was filmed, in exchange for a major tax break. Fans have been complaining about this for months, and Michael Keaton recently spoke to Variety about his perspective, offering:
No, I didn’t care one way or another. Big, fun, nice check.
Points were made. Because while fans are still be stewing over the fact that they might never see the contents of the Batgirl movie, Keaton got paid regardless. And as such, he's not quite as sore about the studio's decision to drop the superhero flick after it was already filmed.
Keaton's comments stand in juxtaposition to the sentiment by others who worked on the Batgirl flick. Directors Bilall Fallah and Adil El Arbi expressed how watching The Flash made them sad, as their DC movie with Keaton might never see the light of day. Later in that same interview, Keaton did speak about his love for the filmmakers, offering:
I like those boys. They’re nice guys. 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.
You can't say the man isn't honest. Michael Keaton has been in the moviemaking business for decades, and he's no doubt experienced a number of disappointment during that time. And it seems like as long as the check clears, he washes his hands clean of projects like Batgirl.
In addition to playing Batman again for two different recent DC movies, Keaton has made a habit out of reprising his iconic roles for new projects. Case in point: the upcoming Beetlejuice Beetlejuice movie. Luckily that sequel is definitely hitting theaters, and won't suffer the same fate as Batgirl.
The odds of the Batgirl movie ever actually getting released got even lower once the DCEU ended. James Gunn and Peter Safran are crafting a brand new shared universe, with the first slate of projects titled Gods and Monsters. We should be getting a new Bat-family in this universe, so there is even less of a need to bring Batgirl to the people.
The DCU will begin with Superman on July 11th, 2025. In the meantime, check out the 2025 movie release dates.
