Batgirl Star Leslie Grace Says Unreleased Cut Was ‘Incredible’

Leslie Grace has praised the Batgirl movie, noting that the unreleased cut had some “incredible” scenes despite being unfinished at the time.

DC Studios co-CEO Peter Safran recently claimed that Batgirl was “not releasable” and could have “hurt” those involved in making it if it had gone forward, but Grace has a very different take. She told Variety the film had the potential to be a solid addition to the DCU.

“I got to see the film as far as it got to; the film wasn’t complete by the time that it was tested,” said Grace. “There were a bunch of scenes that weren’t even in there. They were at the beginning of the editing process, and they were cut off because of everything going on at the company.

“But the film that I got to see — the scenes that were there — was incredible,” she asserted. “There was definitely potential for a good film, in my opinion. Maybe we’ll get to see clips of it later on.”

Grace had meetings with Warner Bros. Film Group CEOs Pam Abdy and Mike De Luca, who explained some things were out of their hands such as “plans and budgets that were set in place before they were even part of the team,” but didn’t go into specifics on “anything creative.”

Grace confirmed that she hadn’t spoken to Safran or DC co-chairman James Gunn since the film’s cancellation, but she is keeping an open mind about the future as she would consider returning to play Batgirl again because she knows it’s what the fans would want.

“We’ve definitely had conversations about Batgirl’s future and how Batgirl can make a resurgence. I think fans are looking forward to seeing that,” she said. “We’ll just see where that takes us; I can’t say one way or the other if that is a reality at this point.

“I can’t speak too much about a future for Batgirl or guarantee anything. The last thing that I would want to do is give folks any kind of inkling of something that I have not much control over — as we’ve learned.”

Batgirl’s solo movie was unceremoniously canceled last August in the wake of the high-profile Warner Bros. Discovery merger, but Safran has already said that he would welcome the opportunity to work with the writers and directors of Batgirl on future projects.

Fans of the DCU should expect plenty of major announcements as they look ahead to a universe under new leadership. Safran and Gunn have devised and unveiled a long-term plan for a revamped DCU, which they’re calling Chapter One: Gods and Monsters.

Adele Ankers-Range is a freelance entertainment writer for IGN. Follow her on Twitter.