We were supposed to get a Batgirl movie from DC Films not that long ago, and even though it was basically done, it now appears we’ll never get a chance to see it. But even though Batgirl movie we'll likely never see the light of day, it seems unlikely that Batgirl as a character is completely off the table under the new DCU regime, and after seeing a new fan trailer, I have to say Jenna Ortega is a pretty good choice.
Jenna Ortega has become the go-to actress to star in every conceivable franchise you love following her success on Wednesday, but she went ahead and joined the Beetlejuice sequel movie after that, so sometimes she will actually join your favorite franchise. The idea of Jenna Ortega as Barbara Gordon certainly isn't an impossibility. In a fan trailer from KH Studio, thanks to a little editing, splicing and deep fake tech, we get an idea of what the actress would look like as Batgirl, and it would certainly work.
The trailer is little more than a teaser, so we just get a few images and some dialogue, mostly taken from other projects and repurposed for this fictional Batgirl movie. The splicing of shots from The Batman and the previous DCEU Commissioner Gordon, played by J.K. Simmons, with the Bat-Signal works nicely. The AI-aided visuals are obviously just that, but the tech has certainly come a long way.
However, the highlight has to be the scenes taken from Jenna Ortega’s movie The Fallout. In the fan trailer, we see Ortega talking to a psychiatrist, who at the end is revealed to be Margot Robbie, as Dr. Harleen Qunzel. It’s honestly a brilliant idea. A movie pitting Batgirl against Harley Quinn feels like an obvious place for both characters to go, and the reveal as it's done in this trailer is something an actual DC trailer would do.
When we might see a DCU Batgirl is far from clear, but it might not be too long. A lot of DC characters are being introduced in James Gunn’s Superman movie, and we know that Gunn’s DCU Chapter 1: Gods and Monsters, has an upcoming Batman movie titled The Brave and the Bold on its schedule. We could certainly be introduced to Batgirl, or at least Barabara Gordon, in that movie. It's in development right now, though Matt Reeves’ The Batman sequel is expected to arrive first.
There are lots of actresses who would make for a great Batgirl. One would hope that Leslie Grace, star of the Batgirl movie we’ll never see, will be given a shot at it. And who knows if Jenna Ortega really wants to get involved in a major superhero franchise? But if she does, it looks like the perfect role.
