Is There Room For Leslie Grace To Return In The Batman 2?

Whether you were looking forward to a "Batgirl" movie or not, the cancellation of the film stands as a cinematic tragedy. The $90 million film would have introduced a new hero to screens, reintroduced Michael Keaton as Bruce Wayne/Batman, and featured Brendan Fraser just as he's on a major upswing in his career thanks to Oscar favorite "The Whale."

Alas, the new studio leadership determined a tax write-off was better than trusting the very people they hired in the first place, per The Hollywood Reporter. Making matters even more confusing is the fact that directors Adil El Arbi and Bilall Fallah were fresh off of a blockbuster hit with "Bad Boys for Life," which became the highest-grossing movie in that franchise. The directors were a little more welcome over at Marvel where they directed multiple episodes of "Ms. Marvel."

Because of the tax write-off situation, it's highly unlikely "Batgirl" will be seen in any form by fans, but a new Easter egg has some buzzing that star Leslie Grace could return to the role. The release of "The Batman: The Official Script Book" got fans excited thanks to a deleted scene that would have had a presumed direct link to "Batgirl."

According to "The Batman: The Official Script Book," a deleted scene from the Matt Reeves-directed feature included a shout-out to Barbara Gordon, the daughter of Jim Gordon (Jeffrey Wright). It's difficult to tell exactly how this would connect "Batgirl" to "The Batman" as J.K. Simmons was set to reprise his role as Jim Gordon for "Batgirl," but with Michael Keaton returning to a role he hasn't played since 1992, "Batgirl" was set to be a wild time full of surprises no matter what. 

"Leslie Grace should play the Batgirl in The Batman universe!" Twitter user @drifitingbat tweeted. "Leslie Grace Batgirl is still on the cards," user @Sharito742 wrote. The optimistic messages were echoed across social media as the slim possibility of Grace actually playing Barbara Gordon/Batgirl on the silver screen became a real possibility. Grace has been nothing but, well, graceful about her movie's cancellation, releasing a statement saying how thankful she was to have had the chance to play the part, per TV Line. Co-star Brendan Fraser got a little more candid, and perhaps his words will serve as some inspiration to producers ready to move on from "Batgirl."

"It's tragic. It doesn't engender trust among filmmakers and the studio. Leslie Grace was fantastic. She's a dynamo, just a spot-on performer," the actor told Variety.