Batgirl: Michael Keaton Batman featured in behind-the-scenes images from scrapped film

Last Updated on March 3, 2024

Although The Flash is meeting the low-bar projections for box office performance, it’s also currently falling well below that of Black Adam and Eternals, which had been considered flops even with grosses of around $350 million. Warner Bros. would infamously try a unique marketing strategy, and the focus of the advertisements was turned predominantly toward Michael Keaton’s reprisal as Batman. In fact, Michael Keaton’s return is, for the most part, remaining the biggest positive attribute of the film with audiences standing on either side of hit or miss impressions. While not officially returning in full, Keaton had additionally filmed scenes for the now locked-away Batgirl movie. He was also slated to appear in a sequel to The Flash should the film see success. Although the public may never get to see Keaton’s scenes officially released, CBR.com has reported that new behind-the-scenes photos of Batgirl have surfaced — one of which sees Batman and Batgirl meet at a familiar cathedral tower, one showing Bruce Wayne back in socialite attire, plus a photo and a video with the directors and Keaton that showcases the Batmobile out on the streets.

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It’s not known how much Keaton’s Batman/Bruce Wayne was involved with the overall story. There had also been leaked set pics a while back taken as a stuntman was filming a fight scene against a group of opposers in the bat suit. As well as an officially released behind-the-scenes photo with Leslie Grace as Batgirl on the rooftop with Michael Keaton in costume as they are directed by Adil El Arbi. Both Adil and co-director Bilal Fallah once tried to salvage the Michael Keaton scenes while at Warner Bros., but unfortunately, the duo said they found that the footage had been inaccessible, even for them.

Batgirl was infamously jettisoned from the studio’s slate, despite having the principal photography completed. The film was in the post-production phase when the new Warner CEO, David Zaslav, canned the movie due to overhauling the finances of the company. The movie was not planned for theatrical release but as an exclusive title for the streaming service known as HBO Max at the time. With The Flash doing so poorly and many attributing this to its controversial star, it’s natural to wonder if Batgirl would have had more going for it if it had been released as planned.

Best known for his roles in films like Gung Ho (1986), Mr. Mom (1983), Night Shift (1982), Beetlejuice (1988), Spider-Man: Homecoming (2017), and The Founder (2016) – where he played former McDonald’s CEO Ray Kroc – Michael Keaton (who happens to have been born Michael John Douglas on September 5, 1951) played the title character in Tim Burton’s Batman (1989), then returned to the role for Batman Returns (1992). The American actor was nominated for an Academy Award for his performance in Birdman (2014) and won a Golden Globe award for that same performance. He went on to win another Golden Globe for the 2021 Hulu mini-series Dopesick… and while we’re talking about Keaton’s accomplishments, we’ll also mention that he studied speech for two years at Kent State.