After years of being stuck in development, Warner Bros. is finally pressing ahead with a Batgirl movie. In The Heights breakout star Leslie Grace has landed the lead role as Barbara Gordon, with Bad Boys For Life directors Adil & Bilall (Adil El Arbi and Bilall Fallah) behind the camera. Birds of Prey and Bumblebee screenwriter Christina Hodson is providing the script.
The only other person attached to the movie to date came as a bit of a surprise to fans. Earlier this month, we learned that J.K. Simmons was in negotiations to return as Commissioner Jim Gordon, Barbara’s father. Simmons previously played the iconic Gotham cop in Justice League. Given how WB is moving forward with a rebooted Bat-mythos in The Batman, it was initially assumed that Jeffrey Wright was more likely to reprise the character in Batgirl instead.
But with Simmons being the top choice for the film’s Gordon—it’s yet to be confirmed whether he’s actually finalized those discussions with the studio—this heavily suggests Batgirl will be set in the original DCEU continuity. Geekosity reached out to their sources to confirm this and the outlet received word that, yes, the film will definitely take place in the Snyderverse.
Ever since Zack Snyder’s Justice League landed earlier this year, DC diehards have been campaigning for WB to #RestoreTheSnyderVerse. It’s possible that the studio have listened and, while it’s not going to alter its cinematic plans, WB could return to the Snyderserse on HBO Max. We know that there are Nightwing and Red Hood movies also in the works, for instance. Both upcoming flicks could easily take place in the universe of Ben Affleck’s Batman instead of Pattinson’s, especially as his Dark Knight is just starting out and is yet to build out his Bat-family.
While a Justice League 2 still feels like a longshot, Batgirl could prove to be the surprise key to keeping the Snyderverse alive.
