Leslie Grace Deserves More Than a Canceled ‘Batgirl’ Movie

On Tuesday afternoon, Warner Bros shocked the industry with a baffling decision: canceling its upcoming Batgirl movie, pulling the movie both from a theatrical release and a streaming release on HBO Max. The call came months after the movie wrapped production, shelving a roughly $90 million movie that was basically finished. It’s a blow to everyone who worked on the movie, who may now never get to share their hard work with the world. It’s a blow to fans, who were hyped up to see Michael Keaton return to his iconic role. And perhaps more than anything, it’s a blow to star Leslie Grace, who was gearing up for her superhero-driven big break.

I don’t know what’s going on with Warner Bros.—or, sorry, Warner Bros. Discovery—right now. (Apparently, HBO Max original movies are being removed from the platform? Huh?) But I do know Grace deserves better than this. The 27-year-old singer and actor should have been a movie star after her jaw-dropping performance as Nina Rosario In the Heights in 2021. She carried the film’s best numbers, including the song where she and Corey Hawkins danced right off the side of a building. But, unfortunately, despite rave reviews, a combination of the pandemic, a simultaneous HBO Max release, and audiences waning interest in movie musicals kept the film from becoming a hit.

But, hey, at least it led to Warner Bros. tapping Grace as the lead for its upcoming Batgirl movie, directed by Adil El Arbi and Bilall Fallah, which promised to bring back Michael Keaton as Bruce Wayne and cast Brendan Fraser as the film’s villain. Batgirl was a role that, whether or not the movie was good, would surely put Grace on the map. It’s freakin’ Batgirl! Alicia Silverstone played her!

Grace was clearly hype for the opportunity, as any sane up-and-coming Hollywood actor would be. In January, she posted the first look of her costume on Instagram and Twitter, using a quote from the 2003 comic series, Batgirl: Year One, as the caption: “I use their expectations against them. That will be their weakness. Not mine. Let them all underestimate me… And when their guard is down, and their pride is rising, let me kick their butts.”

As of Wednesday, the day after the news of the Batgirl cancellation broke, that was still Grace’s pinned tweet. (The Instagram post was also still live, despite a false claim on Twitter that Grace had deleted the photo.) The star has yet to comment on the Batgirl news. But it’s heartbreaking to see how enthusiastic Grace had been to immerse herself in the role. I mean, quoting a comic from 2003? She did her research!

According to a report from Variety, Warner Bros. cut Batgirl because the new Warner Bros. Discovery CEO David Zaslav felt the movie wasn’t big enough to be a theatrical spectacle, which is what Zaslav wants the studio to focus on, rather than HBO Max releases. But the thing is… Batgirl was a big movie. Grace may not be a household name yet, but she was surrounded by names like Keaton, Fraser, and J. K. Simmons. She had the potential for all kinds of crossovers, including a team-up with Margot Robbie in the Birds of Prey projects. This is how you become a star. But Warner Bros. Discovery has, for now, taken that all away. Batman is all about justice, so where is the justice for Leslie Grace?