2022 sure was a unique year for DC. James Gunn stepping in as co-chairman and CEO of DC Studios–and making a plethora of changes, good or bad–takes over so many headlines that it’s easy to forget that the biggest story of the year for DC up to that point was the cancellation of their most talked-about project, Batgirl.
To end the year, actress Leslie Grace–who was set to play Batgirl (aka Barbara Gordon)–posted a video on her Instagram offering a highlight reel of her own 2022. And as just another tease for fans, it featured numerous pictures and videos of the Batgirl costume, behind-the-scenes stunt work and on-set clips. Of course, the Batgirl get-up has been seen before (check out the banner image above), but Leslie Grace’s photos show more details of the rather fetching purple and yellow suit.
Leslie Grace captioned the video with a message of hope through lessons learned throughout 2022. “thank u for teachin’ me, 2022. you were singular in many ways that will stay with me. my gratitude and love for life is much deeper thanks to the experiences you brought me. i take your lessons with me as we part…here’s to many more stories to tell, memories to make, and love to give in 2023”
The cancellation of Batgirl was one of the biggest movie news stories of 2022. The DC movie, which had a budget not much less than $100 million, was removed from the schedule last summer, leaving behind one of the greatest What Ifs in comic book movie history. But as we all know now, this ended up being far from the most controversial choice by the studio in 2022.
The directors, Bilall Fallah and Adil El Arbi, later reflected on the decision to ditch Batgirl, with Arbi saying, “You’ve got to imagine, we’re two fanboys and for one second we were in the Batman universe, following in the footsteps of Zack Snyder and Christopher Nolan, and then it was just like we woke up and it was a dream!”
What do you think of the footage Leslie Grace posted? Do you like the Batgirl costume design? Do you think Grace would have made a fitting superhero? Let us know below!