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6 DC characters who benefit from Batgirl’s cancelation

By Michael Johnson

Ray Fisher (Cyborg / Victor Stone), Ezra Miller (The Flash / Barry Allen), Ben Affleck (Batman / Bruce Wayne), Henry Cavill (Superman / Clark Kent), Gal Gadot (Diana Prince / Wonder Woman), Jason Momoa (Aquaman / Arthur Curry) in Zack Snyder's Justice League. Photograph by Courtesy of HBO Max
Ray Fisher (Cyborg / Victor Stone), Ezra Miller (The Flash / Barry Allen), Ben Affleck (Batman / Bruce Wayne), Henry Cavill (Superman / Clark Kent), Gal Gadot (Diana Prince / Wonder Woman), Jason Momoa (Aquaman / Arthur Curry) in Zack Snyder's Justice League. Photograph by Courtesy of HBO Max /
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Justice League. Image Courtesy Warner Bros. Entertainment, HBO Max /

Batgirl was the first domino to fall in Warner Discovery’s new look DC cinematic universe. Despite the understandable outcry, the decision makes perfect sense — other DC characters need attention.

Warner Discovery executive, David Zaslav has a plan to take DC’s cinematic universe in a different direction, one that is familiar to audiences. With his new vision, some projects have been removed. After years of anticipation, Batgirl fans were punched in the gut with news about the canceled film. Zaslav decided that Batgirl wasn’t in the best interest of DC’s Extended Universe — she’s just one domino to fall.

According to reports, another film on the chopping block is Supergirl. Unlike Batgirl, Supergirl didn’t reach production, but EW first reported the news in 2018 with 22 Jump Street and The Cloverfield Paradox writer Oren Uziel writing the script. Sasha Calle, who’ll play the character in The Flash, was set to star in a film that would introduce Kara Zor-El to the DCEU. With Warner Discovery canceling projects, adding Supergirl to the list makes sense.

People losing their jobs isn’t a good thing. Those who worked on the set of Batgirl put in hard work and long hours. With that said, canceling a project they didn’t believe in was a smart business decision. I’m not talking about financially, I’m talking about the big picture of the DCEU. I can hear it already — just make good movies. However, continuity is more important than that in a comic book movie.

Love or hate the MCU, but they do a great job at a connected universe. A connected universe doesn’t mean handcuffs. In the comics, there’s a continuity that exists, despite the heroes or characters living in a world of their own. That’s what we thought we were getting from the DCEU — Batgirl went against that formula.

Leslie Grace was cast to play Barbara Gordon in a Batman universe where Michael Keaton was the Caped Crusader, and J. K. Simmons was Commissioner Gordon—it makes little sense. Fans of the DCEU remember Simmons’ Gordon was part of the DCEU in Justice League. Simmons was part of the Ben Affleck Batman universe we never got. Keaton had not played the Dark Knight in three decades. Which brought so many unanswered questions. What was the idea that went into this version of Batgirl? Was this new Batgirl in a universe all her own? Did her story make sense for what the DCEU wanted to do from now on?

Unfortunately, we won’t get the answer to any of those questions anytime soon. Zaslav’s decision tells us that he plans to shift the focus away from secondary characters like Batgirl and Supergirl. Instead, we’ll see the DCEU prioritize other notable characters.

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