Brendan Fraser Blasts WB For Scrapping BATGIRL - “More Valuable to Burn It Down”
It was really frustrating when we learned that the completed Batgirl movie would never see the light of day and it turns out Brendan Fraser is still pissed off about it. The actor has opened up about the scrapped DC project and he is not holding back.
Fraser had a key role lined up in Batgirl, playing Ted Carson, better known to DC readers as the fiery villain Firefly. He clearly had a blast making it and still feels the loss of the project years later.
Speaking with AP, Fraser explained just how massive the production really was:
"A whole movie. I mean, there were four floors of production in Glasgow. I was sneaking into the art department just to geek out.”
For him, the real disappointment goes far beyond the work that was done behind the scenes. Fraser noted how important the film could have been for young fans who were finally getting a Barbara Gordon story centered on a Latina lead played by Leslie Grace.
"The tragedy of that is that there’s a generation of little girls who don’t have a heroine to look up to and go, ‘She looks like me.’ I mean, Michael Keaton came back as Batman. The Batman!
“The product – I’m sorry, 'content' – is being commodified to the extent that it’s more valuable to burn it down and get the insurance on it than to give it a shot in the marketplace."
Batgirl was initially intended as an HBO Max original and was fully completed when Warner Bros. shelved it in 2022. Alongside Grace’s Batgirl, the movie featured Michael Keaton returning as Batman and J.K. Simmons reprising his role as Commissioner Gordon.
At the time, the studio released a statement attempting to frame the decision as part of a broader DC strategy. Warner Bros. said:
"The decision to not release Batgirl reflects our leadership's strategic shift as it relates to the DC universe and HBO Max. Leslie Grace is an incredibly talented actor and this decision is not a reflection of her performance."
Industry reports soon followed pointing to a tax write down as the driving force behind the cancellation. Because the movie originated before the Warner Bros. Discovery merger, shelving it allowed the company to claim financial benefits, something that only deepened fan frustration.
Although Batgirl is gone, Fraser is keeping busy. His next project is the comedy drama Rental Family, where he plays a struggling actor in Tokyo who signs on with a service that hires people to play roles in the lives of clients.
It sounds like a quirky, heartfelt story and a fun shift in tone for Fraser. But, it’s a shame what happened with Batgirl.