Remember back in the late-80s/early-90s when Michael Keaton portrayed Batman twice in live-action, and later starred in 2014’s Birdman as Riggan Thomson, a struggling actor who was famous for playing a superhero named Birdman from 1989 to 1992 and who wants to prove himself as more than a blockbuster battery despite his inner voice telling him otherwise? Now, do you remember when he played Batman again in The Flash nearly a decade after Birdman came out?
All this to say that there is not a thespian on this Earth who has had a better time in the superhero blockbuster sphere than Michael Keaton. After all, when these enterprises come knocking, he knows he can almost always count on having as much fun shooting the material as he does cashing the check that comes with the gig.
So when Warner Bros. committed one of the greatest sins in recent cinema history by canning Batgirl—where Keaton would have reprised his role of the Caped Crusader—for the sake of slurping up some tax credits under the morally bereft hand of David Zaslav, Keaton didn’t mind a whole awful lot.
Per GQ, the actor emphasized that, when it came to Batman, it was all about fun and cash, although he made a point of acknowledging his respect and gratitude for the space as well, and expressed his condolences for Batgirl directors Adil El Arbi and Bilall Fallah.
No, I didn’t care one way or another. Big, fun, nice check. I like those boys. They’re nice guys. I pull for them. I want them to succeed, and I think they felt very badly, and that made me feel bad. Me? I’m good. I’m nothing but only respectful and grateful, 100%. And proud of it actually, because I like to prove everybody wrong. It’s fun for me.
Alongside Keaton, Batgirl would have starred Leslie Grace as the titular heroine, along with J. K. Simmons as Commissioner Gordon (a role he would have reprised from 2017’s Justice League) and Brendan Fraser as the villain Firefly. Ivory Aquino was also set to portray Alysia Yeoh, who would have been the first major transgender character to appear in a DC film.
Indeed, it is nothing short of a profound shame that Batgirl will never see the light of day. Here’s hoping James Gunn‘s DCU will never be subjected to such despicable stunts.