Seeing The Flash Left Batgirl Directors Feeling Disappointed: 'We Were Sad'

"Batgirl" fans received terrible news in August 2022 when it broke that Warner Bros. Discovery was canceling the release of the film by co-directors Adil El Arbi and Bilall Fallah. The "Batgirl" directors then shared a heartbreaking response to the cancelation on a now-deleted Instagram post, saying, "We are saddened and shocked by the news. We still can't believe it."

More than a year later, the filmmakers — whose hit projects include the hit 2020 film "Bad Boys for Life" and co-director credits on two episodes of the Marvel-Disney+ series "Ms. Marvel" — are clearly still feeling the sting over the demise of "Batgirl." Speaking with Insider about their new film, the Syrian war drama "Rebel," Adil and Bilal said their sadness was exacerbated by the release of the DC film "The Flash" in theaters in June 2023.

"We watched it and we were sad," Adil recalled for Insider. "We love director Andy Muschietti and his sister Barbara, who produced the movie. But when we watched it, we felt we could have been part of the whole thing."

"The Flash" stars Ezra Miller as Barry Allen, whose superhero alter-ego The Flash disrupts the DC multiverse when he attempt to go back in time to prevent the tragic murder of his mother, Nora (Maribel Verdú). The Flash's multiversal adventures introduces the Scarlet Speedster to different iterations of his fellow Justice League members, including Supergirl (Sacha Calle) instead of Superman (Henry Cavill) and Michael Keaton's iteration of Batman-Bruce Wayne instead of Ben Affleck's character.

Keaton also reprised Batman for "Batgirl," in which Leslie Grace starred in the title role. When Warner Bros. Discovery issued an explanation for the cancelation of the HBO Max original, the company said in a statement, "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."

Another reason for the cancelation, insiders told Variety came down to the issue of money. Inside sources told the publication that the $90 million budget for "Batgirl" was "apparently neither big enough to feel worthy of a major theatrical release nor small enough to make economic sense in an increasingly cutthroat streaming landscape."

Business decisions notwithstanding, Adil El Arbi wishes that the fate of "Batgirl" would have been left up to viewers instead of a corporation. "We didn't get the chance to show 'Batgirl' to the world and let the audience judge for themselves," Adil told Insider. "Because the audience really is our ultimate boss and should be the deciders of if something is good or bad, or if something should be seen or not."