Batgirl's Adil El Arbi Has Some Some Eyebrow-Raising Comments About The DC Multiverse
The DC Multiverse is about to be on full display in a number of upcoming Warner Bros. projects, including the much-anticipated HBO Max movie "Batgirl." And if what director Adil El Arbi recently said in an interview is true, fans could be in for some next-level craziness — but there's a catch.
As of right now, actors J.K. Simmons and Michael Keaton have been officially confirmed as two of the main crossovers in the impending Batman spin-off, with Simmons coming back to play Gotham City police commissioner Jim Gordon following his appearances in 2017's "Justice League" (and the 2021 Zack Snyder cut), while Keaton — who is going to be appearing in the 2023 "The Flash" solo flick — is reprising his 1989 "Batman" and 1992 "Batman Returns" role as Bruce Wayne aka The Dark Knight. In what capacity these two characters will show up, though, is still unclear, considering that each of them — at least, at this point — originates from a different cinematic universe.
Speaking to The Direct, El Arbi explained that, yes, "Batgirl" will include a wonderful mashup of characters. The problem is that viewers will also have to see future DC movies to have any idea what's going on, at least in the grand scheme of things. And that's not the craziest part.
El Arbi says Warner Bros. bosses never gave him the details on this seeming multiverse crossover
According to Adil El Arbi, per an interview with The Direct, his higher-ups at Warner Bros. were adamant about keeping creative details under wraps in relation to the larger DC multiversal picture that "The Flash" will presumably ignite, to the point where they wouldn't even explain how "Batgirl" was related to other projects or why J.K. Simmons and Michael Keaton were paired together in it.
As El Arbi says it, whenever he and the other "Batgirl" creatives asked how Keaton and Simmons have ended up in the same universe, WB brass kept their cards close to their chest. "And they would say, 'Don't worry about it. We got a plan.' They never really explained that aspect to us, but I guess you're gonna have to see the other movies to understand what happens, why the reason is that we ended up in sort of a spaghetti of Multiverses in that aspect. It's gonna be a delicious spaghetti, I'm sure of that."
What is ultimately concerning about El Arbi's comments is the fact that it's unclear when "Batgirl" will be released, seeing how it's been pushed back to 2023 (via The Direct). It's possible that "The Flash" and other future DC projects that are supposed to expand the Multiverse won't come out until after the Batgirl release. So it'll be interesting to see how Warner Bros. handles the reported crossovers and returning characters if this happens. Batgirl aka Barbara Gordon (Leslie Grace) is expected to be in her earlier years as a caped crusader and set photos have shown Keaton dressed in his classic Batman regalia (via Collider). So perhaps El Arbi's "Batgirl" will find a random way of connecting the characters.