The directors of DC's upcoming Batgirl discuss the influences of the film and how it differs from their work on Ms. Marvel.
Directing duo Adil El Arbi and Bilall Fallah came aboard Ms. Marvel to helm Episodes 1 and 6 before getting the opportunity to tackle Batgirl for Warner Bros. For the pair, the jump between Marvel and DC allowed them to explore a lot of different styles. "It's a big, big honor. It's a big privilege," El Arbi told Screen Rant. "It's obviously both ends of the spectrum, where Ms. Marvel is very bright and colorful; we have that animation style in it. While Batgirl is darker. It's DC. It's Gotham."
"It's just amazing to have Leslie Grace bringing [to life] that character," the director continued. "We fell in love with that character when we saw the Batman: The Animated Series when we were kids. So we hope that this is sort of a model of that style and the Tim Burton movies, obviously. And having [Michael] Keaton as Batman as our first superhero? It's just a dream."
"It was a goosebump moment," Fallah added about working with Keaton. Of course, Batgirl won't be the first chance audiences have to see Keaton suit back up as the Dark Knight. The Burton version of Batman will show up in The Flash next year, which could have major implications for the DC film universe moving forward.
Regardless of whether The Flash will reboot the DCEU, the Batgirl directors weren't affected by anything. "We don't know when Batgirl is coming out," El Arbi said. "No one [at Warner Bros. Pictures or HBO Max] told us about tweaks, just to carry on."
Batman and Flash aside, Batgirl will, of course, focus heavily on Barbara Gordon. The movie will explore both her rise as a superhero and a detective. "At the end of the day, it's Gotham, so there's always a case, right? It's kind of like an investigative story, it's a detective story, so she does have a case that drives her into these crazy situations," Grace said about Batgirl's arc in the film.
Batgirl does not yet have a release date on HBO Max.
Source: Screen Rant