Having closed out the Marvel Cinematic Universe’s latest Disney Plus serious with plenty of vim, verve, and imagination, directorial duo Adil El Arbi and Bilall Fallah are set to take things in an altogether darker and grittier direction when they follow Ms. Marvel with the DCEU’s Batgirl.
Whereas Iman Vellani’s stupendous showcase was full of upbeat musical cues, fun-filled interludes, and a dazzling color palette, none of the above applies to Gotham City. Leslie Grace’s Barbara Gordon has to deal with Brendan Fraser’s maniacal Firefly, and navigate the influence of both J.K. Simmons’ police commissioner and Michael Keaton’s Batman, all while trying to stay out of danger and keep her nearest and dearest safe.
It isn’t going to be The Batman levels of dingy, though, but El Arbi and Fallah nonetheless admitted to SlashFilm that they can’t wait for audiences to see what they’ve got in store when Batgirl arrives.
“The thing is that it’s also an origin story, but obviously, Batgirl is in Gotham City, so it’s going to be much darker than Ms. Marvel. And our main character is older. I mean, she’s not a teenager, she already has a job.”
“I think that we’re still going to try to have the same visual vibrancy that is our trademark, you could say, and homages to the comic book, homages also to the animated series of Batman, and the Tim Burton movies. So that’s what we’re trying to do with that, but obviously, it’s going to be a bit darker than Ms. Marvel‘s world.”
Having been awarded a theatrical release in the United Kingdom, there’s a growing belief Batgirl will also be pulled from HBO Max and sent to the big screen domestically, and you can’t say the project doesn’t deserve to be seen in the multiplex.
