Even though it's been more than 24 hours, both Hollywood and DC fans around the world are still recovering from the shocking news that Warner Brothers was axing their highly anticipated superhero film Batgirl from their schedule. This unprecedented move rattled the industry which led to both WB and directors Bilall Fallah and Adil El Arbi giving their own responses to the news on Wednesday. Now Batgirl herself, Leslie Grace, has finally reacted to the news as well.
In two different Twitter posts, Grace talked about how proud she was of the work her cast and crew put into the now canceled film. She also thanked all the Batgirl fans for their love and support. A painting of Grace in her Batgirl costume striking a pose and a video of the actress singing while putting on her costume accompanied the heartfelt posts. In that rather adorable latter video, Grace showed off her amazing voice singing the classic Whitney Houston song “I Will Always Love You”. A sadly fitting tune for this somber occasion.
While the news has to be hard for everyone who worked on this film, it arguably is the most crushing for Grace. If you have followed her on social media since she landed this iconic part then you would know that the actress took this role very seriously and loved the character so much. Throughout filming, she posted many touching videos of her meeting fans in costume and seeing their faces while meeting Batgirl was simply priceless. While it makes sense from a business perspective to can the project, that’s why this news is heartbreaking for many. Grace killed it in her breakout role in last year’s hit summer musical In the Heights and Batgirl was going to be her next major role. In the Heights beautifully showed off the actress’ complex emotional range which made her the perfect choice to play Barbra Gordon aka Batgirl. However, even though we won’t see her version of the character come to life, there’s always something to gain in every life experience. Grace points that out in her posts and even quotes Batgirl herself to put a bittersweet cherry on her message to fans.
Batgirl was an intriguing film for so many reasons. Besides the excitement of seeing Grace dawn the cowl, the film was going to see the return of Michael Keaton as Batman, J.K. Simmons as Commissioner Gordon, and it would have been the debut of Brendan Fraser’s villainous Firefly. Even though many sources say the product in its current state was irredeemable, disappointing, and would tarnish the DC brand, it still would’ve been cool to see because of all those reasons. Especially given how much love and hard work Grace gave to this role.
Maybe someday down the line, DC fans will be able to see this now fabled film, but for now we’re just left here scratching our heads thinking about what could have been. While there are many exciting DC films coming down the pipeline, this Batgirl wound stings and is still very fresh. It will take time for a lot of fans to emotionally recover from this news, but while Batgirl fans mourn the loss of this film, you can view Grace’s heartfelt posts down below.
Querida familia! On the heels of the recent news about our movie “Batgirl,” I am proud of the love, hard work and intention all of our incredible cast and tireless crew put into this film over 7 months in Scotland. I feel blessed to have worked among absolute greats and forged relationships for a lifetime in the process! To every Batgirl fan - THANK YOU for the love and belief, allowing me to take on the cape and become, as Babs said best, “my own damn hero!”