Batgirl movie gets new directors in Bad Boys for Life duo

From Bad Boys to Batgirl.

EW can confirm that Bad Boys for Life directing duo Adil El Arbi and Bilall Fallah are attached to helm Warner Bros'. long-gestating Batgirl movie. The film will focus on Barbara Gordon, daughter of Gotham City Police Commissioner Jim Gordon.

Bumblebee writer Christina Hodson (whose credits also include Birds of Prey and The Flash) is behind the script for the film, which is being planned as an HBO Max release.

There are numerous iterations of the Batgirl character, but Barbara Gordon remains the best-known. Batgirl was originally introduced in 1961 as Betty Kane, but the Gordon iteration came along in 1967 as the character was revamped for the Batman TV series. Yvonne Craig began playing the role in the third season of the Adam West-led series.

Alicia Silverstone also famously played the role in Joel Schumacher's Batman & Robin, and Rosario Dawson voiced the character in The Lego Batman Movie. The HBO Max series Titans will be introducing its own Barbara Gordon in season 3.

A Batgirl movie has been in the works for some time, with Joss Whedon initially announced as writer-director back in 2017. He left the project in 2018, citing an inability to crack the story. Author Roxane Gay then offered to write her own take on the character, but that never came to fruition.

El Arbi and Fallah are no strangers to the superhero oeuvre. They'll be coming to Batgirl after working on Marvel's Ms. Marvel series.

The Hollywood Reporter first reported the Batgirl news.

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