Batgirl was going to make Leslie Grace’s name in Hollywood. Previously best known for her award-winning music career, Grace impressed in 2021’s In the Heights, and appeared to be on a big upward trajectory when she landed the potentially star-making role of the DCEU’s Barbara Gordon.
The movie was shot in Glasgow earlier this year, Grace had been active on social media saying how excited she was for fans to see the movie, and post-production was wrapping up for an imminent release. Now, those dreams are in tatters.
In an unprecedented move, Warner Bros. has canceled Batgirl at the last minute, and indications are that they’ll take the movie as a tax write-off, meaning it will never be released on any format.
This will be a huge blow to everyone that poured their blood, sweat, and tears into the movie, but especially for Grace. Those working in the industry and fans alike know she must be heartbroken, and are feeling terrible for her.
Most agree that this would have made her a star:
Some just feel plain awful for her:
Grace’s excitement for the role just makes this harder:
Others note this means Grace had to put up with months of virulent online racism for nothing:
We can only imagine what she’s going through right now:
Tossing the hard work of the entire Batgirl cast and crew in the trash is inevitably going to cause ripples on other Warner Bros. productions. After all, if they’ll can an all-but-complete movie they’ve spent $90 million on, no other ongoing shoot is really safe.
More specifically, it’s probably a gloomy day over at the Blue Beetle offices right now, as that film was made along the same guidelines as Batgirl was. Here’s hoping for some good news on this sad day for DCEU fans.
