DCEU’s Batgirl to Receive Funeral Screenings After Being Shelved

After being shelved, along with several other properties, it looks like Batgirl will see the light of day for a handful of days and only for a select group of people. Insiders are calling this a “funeral screening”, in which various cast and crew will be able to see the film on the Warner Bros. lot. 

Batgirl starred Leslie Grace in the titular role, along with J.K. Simmons as Commissioner Gordon, Brendan Fraser as Firefly, and Ivory Aquino as Alysia Yeoh, who would’ve been the DC Extended Universe’s (DCEU) first trans character on-screen. The DC film was directed by Adil El Arbi and Bilall Fallah, who recently scored a Marvel Cinematic Universe (MCU) hit with the Disney+ TV series Ms. Marvel. The $90 million movie was completely filmed and intended to be released via HBO Max sometime this year, but was ultimately shelved as part of a tax write-down.

The news came after Warner Media., the parent company of HBO, merged with Discovery, Inc., to create Warner Bros. Discovery this year, with David Zaslav as CEO. And while Grace’s acting was praised, Warner Bros. Discovery has stated that the decision was purely financial. The merger caused multiple films to be shelved, including Scoob! Holiday Haunt and the upcoming Wonder Twins film.

“The decision to not release Batgirl reflects our leadership’s strategic shift as it relates to the DC universe and HBO Max,” a Warner Bros. Discovery spokesperson released in a statement. “Leslie Grace is an incredibly talented actor and this decision is not a reflection of her performance. We are incredibly grateful to the filmmakers of Batgirl and Scoob! Holiday Haunt and their respective casts and we hope to collaborate with everyone again in the near future.”

But rumors are saying that Grace may don the Batgirl costume once again, but in a different DC property. Sources are looking at the Black Canary project, with Jurnee Smollet (Lovecraft Country & Spiderhead) returning as the titular character from Margot Robbie’s Birds of Prey, as a place for Grace’s Batgirl to land. Either way, some fans are lamenting over what could have been.

And others, well, they have other plans. 

Only time will tell what will happen next with the DCEU.