Director Adil El Arbi Mourns ‘Batgirl’ with Behind-the-Scenes Michael Keaton Photo, Kevin Feige Email

Batgirl director Adil El Arbi is sharing the kind words he received from Marvel boss Kevin Feige after Warner Bros. pulled the plug on his completed film earlier this week. In a post to his Instagram Story today, El Arbi revealed a supportive email from Feige, plus a still from Batgirl showing Michael Keaton in character.

El Arbi first shared the Batgirl still, which will likely be the only slice we see of Keaton in character now that Warner Bros. indefinitely shelved the film on Tuesday (Aug. 2). Keaton was set to reprise his role as Batman in the film after playing the iconic superhero 30 years ago, but his recent work will probably never reach audiences…although they might still see him in The Flash. 

In the photo posted to El Arbi’s account, Keaton’s Batman stands opposite Leslie Grace’s Barbara Gordon while the director stands between the two actors.

Along with the behind-the-scenes snap, El Arbi also posted a screenshot of an email he and his co-director Bilall Fallah received from Feige.

The message read, “My friends and I had to reach out and let you know we are all thinking about you both. Because of the wonderful news about the wedding (congrats!) and the disappointing news about Batgirl. Very proud of you guys for all the amazing work you do and particularly Ms. Marvel of course! Can’t wait to see what is next for you. Hope to see you soon.”

El Arbi’s posts come after he and Fallah expressed their disappointment with Warner Bros. in a joint statement earlier this week.

“We are saddened and shocked by the news. We still can’t believe it,” the stated in part on Instagram. “As directors, it is critical that our work be shown to audiences, and while the film was far from finished, we wish that fans all over the world would have had the opportunity to see and embrace the final film themselves.”